Denouement of the Heart
by mysticOlive
Summary: Kiku moves to America only to be thrown into a new school and new environment. He meets an odd set of characters from attending including the ever fighting Francis and Arthur, the familiar Ludwig and Feliciano, the loud Gilbert and his (almost) scary girlfriend Elizabeta, the handsome football player Alfred and many more This description is way worse than the story! (Ameripan)
1. Chapter 1 A New Student

CHAPTER 1. A NEW STUDENT

The bell rang and the only thing Kiku could do was sit in the school office. He didn't like being late for class but this was a new school, in a new country and, frankly he didn't know his way around at all. He let a sigh escape.

_I wonder how long it's going to take to adjust to this place, _he thought to himself. He had moved to America recently - the beginning of the summer, and New York wasn't exactly like he thought it would be. He liked it, but he'd been hoping for a quieter life, unlike the one he'd had in Tokyo. Ideally, he would like to have not moved, he loved Japan and it was a big part of him, he just couldn't seem to shake the images of the country from his mind. Kiku had practiced his English for months before arriving, only to be completely overwhelmed upon arrival. His family wasn't all that wealthy, which explained why his mother had enrolled him in a public school. Kiku closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, he was waiting for the woman in the counseling office to come back with the two ASB presidents. She'd said they would show him around and tell him about how school would work here in America. His wishes to return to Tokyo were interrupted by a loud bickering from down the hallway.

"Shut up Frog! I know exactly what I'm doing"

"I don't think so! Just the other day I saw you walk past your own fourth period!"

"Oh, so are you following me now?"

"Don't act as if you don't like it"

"Like what?"

"Being in my presence of course!"

"Would you shut up! I do not like it!"

"At least I'm not dressed like a hobo…"

"I am _not _dressed like a hobo!"

"Like you would know!"

"Oh yeah? And what are you some sort of expert then?!"

"Maybe I am!"

"Please, some expert you'd be!"

"Oohh _Mon Cher_…"

"English, Francis, English! You don't live in France anymore and I can't bloody well understand you!"

"Then you should learn the language, you won't regret it _honhon_."

"I have no desire to learn the language of a country, that has a bunch of weak little pastry makers living in it! You couldn't even win your own revolution!"

Kiku heard a gasp and the footsteps stop. "How _dare _you insult the country of France, you black sheep!"

"That's it, Frog!"

Kiku heard a punch and someone falling to the floor. Where was the counseling secretary? Why wasn't she breaking them up?

Kiku decided to make a hasty exit, he quickly grabbed his bag and ran out into the hall. The two boys were on top of each other, scuffling. Kiku ran up to them, but, in a sudden burst of fear, he stopped; not wanting to get pulled into the fight. When he was younger, he used to fight a lot. Other kids would call him ruthless and he'd been somewhat of a bully, his parents had to pull him out of school and straighten him out, then dropped him into a new school. There he'd worked hard on being a better kid and he didn't want to return to those days. Luckily for him when the long blonde haired boy opened his eyes for a moment, he saw Kiku standing near them and bolted up, early causing the boy with shorter hair to fall on his behind.

"What the _hell _Frog! You could have killed me!"

"Sourcils behave yourself! You're acting uncivil in front of the new student!"

"_I'm _acting uncivil? What a joke." The boy with short hair brushed himself off and held out his hand to Kiku "Hello, I'm Arthur Kirkland senior president of ASB. I understand you're transferring as a senior into our school this year from…Japan was it? Welcome to the country then!"

The long haired boy quickly interjected, he grabbed Kiku's hand away from Arthur and held his lips close to it for a moment. Kiku blushed furiously and the boy looked up at him "_Bon monsieur de jour_, I am Francis Bonnefroy hailing from the great country of France. I am also senior president, more senior than _Sourcils_ here, and I also welcome you to our school."

Arthur sputtered and shooed Francis away "Get away from him, you pig!"

"Oh what's the matter Arthur? Jealous I'm giving attention to another boy?"

"N-no! You're obviously scaring him!"

"Come now Arthur, admit it to the public..." Francis got close to Arthur, now causing him to blush furiously "you can't stand it if my attention is on anyone but yourself."

Arthur only sputtered more "L-Like I would care about someone who constantly flirts with anyone and everyone!" He turned his back and folded his arms.

"Oooh come on Arthur! That was a long time ago, one girl…!"

"We're not discussing this now! We need to show the new student around…"

Arthur turned to Kiku "Sorry you'll have to excuse my pig of a partner here, what was your name again? I didn't catch it"

Kiku was silent for a moment, not sure if it would be okay to speak. He didn't want them to begin bickering again. When he was sure the two wouldn't say anything, he seized the moment "I'm Kiku Honda"

"Ah, Kiku, lovely name. It's gotten late enough don't you think? We better get started" Arthur began to walk and Kiku quickly caught up with him.

Francis walked closely to Arthur, almost so close that they were touching. A fleeting thought passed Kiku's mind that it was peculiar, though it left him quickly as soon as Arthur spoke up, pointing to a large doorway. "This is the cafeteria, you either have first or second lunch. What teacher have you got for your fourth period?"

Kiku looked down at his schedule "um…Mrs. I mean…Miss Arlovskaya"

Both Francis and Arthur gave each other something that resembled a look of fear, Francis spoke first "She's a…strict teacher, so to speak" he laughed nervously.

Kiku shifted uncomfortably "is there something I should know about her?" He questioned.

Arthur scratched his neck "it would be pretty hard to fill you in on it all, I think you're just going to have to see for yourself like all of us did I'm afraid."

Francis nodded in agreement, for what it seemed like the first time to Kiku. "What were you saying about lunch schedules?" Kiku directed the conversation back to his schedule in hopes to get to class quickly.

"Oh yes, that means you have second lunch with Arthur and I," Francis wiggled his eyebrows and Kiku blushed again, he turned his head away.

Arthur thwapped Francis on the back of the head "Frog! You're making him uncomfortable again!"

Francis rubbed his head and grinned "I think he likes it…"

Arthur, having made the decision to ignore Francis, had begun speaking to Kiku again "Alright, second lunch means that you eat _after _fourth period. You can sit with Francis and I by the window if you like, that way on your first day you won't have to be alone."

Kiku nodded "Okay, I will join you then."

"Let's keep moving then shall we?" Arthur guided him with his hand on Kiku's back into a new direction. Francis resumed his place by Arthur's side and yawned. Kiku looked up at the both of them as they walked. He felt so small, he hadn't realized how tall and old American students looked. They were very different from Japan. Kiku looked down at his feet, he was only 5' 3" while the other two boys must've been at least 5' 7" or 5' 8". He sighed, this year was going to be longer than he thought. Why does them being taller make the year feel like it's going to be longer?

Arthur and Francis showed him just about everything, from the drinking fountains to the gym, restrooms and student stores or fields and break areas. Kiku truthfully hadn't listened to everything that was said by the two presidents, he had to admit to tuning out their bickering and some of the rather obvious things they might point out. Finally the two boys began to show Kiku to his classrooms. From last period to first period Arthur insisted, that way they could just drop him off by his first class. They slowly went from room to room, Arthur informing him about each teacher and how strict they were. Kiku had really only been looking forward to Japanese class since he knew he could follow that. Japanese 500 to be exact. When they neared his first period, Drama with Mr. Densen, Arthur was about to say his goodbyes when a spirited boy ran up in front of them, obviously late for class. Kiku was taken aback by him. Clearly the boy played some sort of sport, his loose school jersey clung to his muscles, drenched in sweat. He stopped in front of the door by the other three boys, quickly tousling his golden blond hair. Kiku felt weak at the sight of him, never had he felt _this _strongly for someone before. Perhaps this is what those stories of love at first sight felt like, and his thoughts of their absurdity began to melt away. Kiku tried to shake himself out of it; tried to convince himself that this boy was probably not into men like he was. He looked like the type who slept with a lot of cheerleaders or sideline girls. As Kiku pulled himself out of his fantasies, the young boy spoke.

"Hey, Art! What are you doing here? Do we have first period together?"

"Bloody hell Alfred, why are you so late?! It's nearly the end of the period"

"Awww come on Artie it's the first day of school can't you just cut me a little slack?"

"No!"

The young American scoffed "Figures, you never answered my question, why are you here anyway?"

Arthur snorted "And you never answered _mine, _why are you so late Alfred!?"

Alfred, as Kiku had figured out, sighed "Are we really playing this game Art?"

"It's not a game! Answer my question…."

"I just got caught up in my work out that's all…"

Before Kiku could eavesdrop more, Francis pulled him around the corner and spoke to him in a hushed tone. "You know, Alfred plays football."

"Football?" Kiku asked. He had been wondering what kind of jersey that was.

Francis chuckled. "Yes well, I couldn't help but notice your quick interest in Alfred, your dilated pupils and light blush stood out to me" He grinned at Kiku "I pick up on that type of thing well you know…" Kiku remained silent to see where Francis was headed with what he was saying. "When I say I pick up on things well, I mean really well, well enough to know that you're probably not the kind who takes all that kindly to women?"

Kiku shook his head, unsure why he'd decided to reveal this secret to a man who seemed to be a stranger. He spoke up a bit, curious himself "And what about yourself?"

Francis cut him off by clapping a hand over his mouth "Hush! What about me? Well I'm 'not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity' as Google likes to put it, I'm what you might call a pansexual." Francis winked at him "But this isn't about me, I thought you might want to get some info on Al there am I right?" Kiku slowly nodded "I thought so." Francis smiled and took his hand away from Kiku's mouth. "His full name is Alfred F. Jones, he claims the F. stands for Freedom but no one really knows what his middle name is. Yes he does prefer those of the male gender but, he's in the closet, so shhh. His dad would kill him if he knew and Alfred's reputation would be ruined. Traditionally he keeps a girl on a string in his public life. Privately, that's a different story. Arthur is his ex, you know."

Kiku's eyes widened "but they seem to be getting along alright…I mean, Alfred doesn't seem to mind talking to him."

Francis sighed "They broke up a long time ago, since then they've become friends again. Their fight was bad though, and to everyone who knew what was going on…its clear they won't be united like that again."

Kiku looked down, unsure whether to feel happy that Alfred was very available, or sad that things had ended so badly in his last relationship.

"Was Alfred the one that got really hurt?" He couldn't explain why he was asking the question other than pure curiosity. He wanted to know everything he could about Alfred.

"Alfred was the one who wanted the break up, in the end they had both been hurt. Though Arthur took more of the blunt of it"

"Oh."

"Don't be that way, about a year after that Arthur was in some serious trouble, Alfred being the type of guy he is swooped in and saved him. Since then their relationship has been great and Arthur found someone new anyway. I think Alfred is happy for him"

"Really?" Kiku brightened a little.

Francis nodded "But that's a secret"

Kiku nodded, he was sure everything he'd just heard was a secret. Lucky for him he couldn't say much, nor was he the one to spread secrets around. Francis grinned at him "we had better join the other two before they wonder what we've been doing behind the wall"

Kiku blushed furiously again, making Francis laugh and pat him on the head "How sweet." was all he said before walking back around the corner. Kiku followed close behind, they were just in time to hear the end of the conversation.

"How stupid could you be Alfred?!" Arthur held his head in his hands "It's not that hard to look at a clock!"

"It is when it's broken" Alfred mumbled, shuffling his feet.

"Do me a favor and get you watch fixed next time you're out, alright?"

"Sure thing Art!" Alfred said cheerily, patting him on the back with such force that caused Arthur to lunge forward a bit.

"Don't call me that, my name is Arthur."

Alfred only laughed, Kiku thought it sounded quite wonderful, but by the look on Francis's and Arthur's face they found it quite obnoxious. "Whatever you say _Art._"

Arthur only just turned and stormed away, shouting "Just get to class, you git!"

Francis followed him closely. He turned around and waved to Kiku and Alfred "Au revoir! J'espère que vous ne vous perdez pas! I hope you don't get lost!"

Kiku shuffled uncomfortably. He was alone with Alfred, he tried his best not to blush when the American turned to him. "Hi!" he said cheerily, holding his hand out for Kiku to shake.

Reluctantly Kiku grasped it, afraid of how rough he'd seen him be with Arthur.

Much to his surprise the American was much gentler with Kiku than he'd thought he'd be. "Hello." he said quietly.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones! But you can just call me Alfred or Al. Who are you?" He cocked his head to the side, making Kiku think that he resembled a puppy.

Kiku smiled slightly "my name is Kiku Honda, but you can just call me Kiku."

"Alright!" Alfred grinned "Do you have first period drama too?" Kiku nodded "Excellent! We better go in before it gets any later though"

Kiku grinned and tried to hide a slight blush that spread across his face, maybe the year wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

Kiku was wrong, he walked in to Miss Arlovskaya's class and looked at the Activ-board, a photo of the seating arrangement was showing, he sighed seeing that he was being seated in the back. Being so short he knew he'd have a hard time seeing. Despite that he held his head high and walked to the back of the classroom. He sat down and thought back to his first period class. Mr. Densen had been somewhat ticked off that both he and Alfred were so late; on the first day too. For his own pleasure and amusement he had decided to make it an assignment for both of them to audition for the school play, the auditions were in a few weeks. He'd given both the boys the proper forms and chuckled darkly as if he thought they would neglect the assignment and he would enjoy failing two students who he already thought to be slackers. Kiku went to put his head down on the desk, he was so tired and hungry that he could hear his stomach growling. He should have eaten a bigger breakfast, the egg he'd had this morning just wasn't doing it. Right before his head was about to hit the desk a sharp smack of a ruler in front of him scared him awake.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A lady asked. Her blond hair, white bow, and blue dress did not match the scary personality that she emanated so well. Kiku figured this must be Miss Arlovaskaya, he no longer wondered why she was single. This lady frightened him to the core.

"U-um I was putting my head down?" Kiku formed his statement into a question, the glare she was giving him made him want to curl up and cry.

"Is that a question or a statement?" She squinted her eyes and looked at him fiercely.

Kiku could feel himself begin to sweat "It was a statement." He said finally.

"It was a statement what?" She snapped at him again.

"It was a statement ma'am" Kiku finished, sinking down into his seat a little.

"N_o one _lays their head down in my class, unless you want something horrible to happen to you!"

Kiku gulped, he didn't know what she would do but he wouldn't like to find out. "Y-yes ma'am it won't happen again!" he said, as he sat up as tall as he could. Miss Arlovaskaya smiled evilly.

"Good." she looked around the class "Anyone else want to try me?" The class was silent, no one had even turned around to see the scene, they all sat upright and rigid as ever. "Very good" she cooed and walked back up to the front of the classroom. "Welcome to Senior English, I am your teacher Miss Arlovaskaya, I hope you're prepared for a difficult year."

Kiku thought that she sounded bitter when she had said her name. She had almost hissed the 'Miss' part, he wondered what happened to her as she began to pass out papers.

Kiku looked at the syllabus for English 12, it read:

SENIOR ENGLISH

WITH MISS ARLOVASKAYA

_Classroom rules:_

**_DO NOT_**

Speak without permission

Lay your head on the desk

Lean back in your chair

Have food in my classroom

Have drinks in my classroom (this includes water)

Have your phone out during class, if it's out I will burn it

DO NOT touch me in any way

Try not to ask too many questions

You may not use the restroom unless it is an absolute emergency

**_DO_**

Raise your hand

Turn in homework

Kiku blinked and turned the page over, it was only more elaboration on how the year was going to go, then a place for his parents to sign. He already had three of these to be signed, quietly he listened to what Miss. Arlovaskaya had to say. She sounded horrible to Kiku, she kept going on and on about the various punishments she was ready to give to students and how she'd had them approved by the school board. _Why would the school approve such cruel and unusual punishment?_ Kiku asked himself quietly, he thought back to the principal. Kiku had only met the man once but once was enough. It was when Kiku's mother was enrolling him into the school, they'd had to have a meeting. Kiku thought back to the short memory, there was a big vase of sunflowers on his desk, he also had a bent lead pipe sitting in the corner of his room. Kiku wondered why he kept such a thing around. The principal was an odd man, what was his name again? Mr…. Kiku sat there trying to think of his name.

Moments passed, perhaps minutes. "ah!" he said quietly to himself it was Mr. Braginsky, another Russian name. Perhaps he, and Miss Arlovaskaya were related and that's why she was allowed such things. Mr. Braginsky wore a scarf, when he'd met Kiku it was late August and he was wearing the scarf, perhaps he never took it off. When Kiku had seen him pass through the counseling office today he was still wearing the scarf. Mr. Braginsky frightened Kiku, more that Miss. Arlovaskaya anyway. He smiled, but it was a frightening smile, as if he knew that in the future he would do something to you. Something horrible. The same frightening air that surrounded Miss. Arlovaskaya surrounded him but tenfold. Kiku shuddered at the thought of him, yes they must definitely be related. Even after the meeting with him that he'd had with his mother, she had said "M_y, that man was very…_ _eerie wasn't he?"_ She had chuckled lightly after but Kiku had seen some concern in her eyes.

Kiku walked to lunch unhappily. He'd already gotten three essays to write that night, two of which were from Miss. Arlovaskaya. He wasn't that good at English anyway and he knew that she would grade him harshly. The lunch room was bustling with so many people, it reminded Kiku of Tokyo. Americans bumped past him as he tried to remember where Arthur and Francis had said they were seated. He checked by the white board where some boys were drawing crude pictures, Kiku blushed, covered his eyes, and quietly backed away from them. He went over to the lunch line and checked the tables there, only a lot of stoners and mean looking girls sat around that area. Suddenly some music began to play music at a volume Kiku was not used to, and an Avril Levine song blasted through the speakers. Kiku having jumped about a foot back, just began to get his bearings again. Some of the stoners were chuckling at him. A light blush spread across his face out of sheer embarrassment. He picked up his lunch box that had been dropped, happy that nothing would be knocked around. _The beauty of bento boxes _he thought _is that everything is so tightly packed together, that it just can't go anywhere. _He smiled to himself, satisfied with this tiny ray of sunshine that seemed to have blessed his lunch period. Then another came, it was Francis. Swift as a bird he came up behind Kiku and put one arm around him, swooping him away from the spot he was standing in. In his other hand he held a paper plate with his school lunch on it. Kiku stared at the food.

"Disgusting, no?" Francis looked down at him and asked after a moment had passed.

"Well I've never tried it" Kiku commented, relaxing a little as the Frenchman steered him toward the window.

"Well I wouldn't bother" He smirked "I only buy it because I don't have much of a choice"

"Why not?" Kiku asked, curiously.

"My family owns a restaurant, all I could take to school is nice leftovers and then I would get fat."

Kiku looked Francis over, really, for the first time since he'd seen him. He noticed just how thin he was, he'd never thought about it before. "I see." Kiku said, as Francis plopped him down on the edge of the table. He then wrapped around and joined Arthur on the other side.

"You reek of cologne" Arthur commented, as he scooted away from Francis, who was now smelling himself.

"I do not!" he said and scooted back over to Arthur, who didn't move away the second time.

"And even if I did smell of cologne, I don't think you'd mind as much as you claim."

"Shut up, Frog" He said and started eating some small, burned sandwiches that looked to be brought from home. Kiku wondered how someone could burn a sandwich but it looked as if Arthur had accomplished it.

"Come on Arthur, why do you eat that garbage?" Francis pouted and began to eat his French fries "Even the school lunch isn't as bad as that."

"It's not _that _bad!" Arthur snorted as he began to gulp down his water bottle.

"Sure, whatever you say." Francis said sarcastically.

Arthur was about to open his mouth and say something, when Alfred came and sat down next to Kiku "Dude! Kiku, Arty, Francis! We have the same lunch!"

Kiku smiled "It's nice to see you again Alfred, how were your other classes?"

Arthur groaned "Oh no please don't get him started."

"My day has gone pretty well! We had P.E. and I totally dominated like I always do, we played basketball today! I definitely slam dunked like eight times. MVP as always! Then I had math, my favorite class. My teacher is really cool this year too, totally laid back! I'm gonna ace that again this year for sure! And before lunch I had current events, I have a feeling that class is gonna be hard. But dude you'll never guess what ha-"

"Alfred, maybe Kiku wants you to ask him about his day too…" Arthur interrupted him. A light blush spread across Kiku's face again.

Even Alfred blushed slightly this time too "O-oh right!" he said quickly, his blush disappeared. "How's your day been?"

Kiku blinked, "Well, it's been pretty good, I have math soon and I just have some essays to write. Actually Arthur I was wondering if you could take a look at them for me when I'm done, my English is still bad and Miss. Arlovaskaya might grade me badly. I don't want to impose though."

"No, I don't mind" Arthur said "English is my favorite subject anyway"

"_Domo Arigato_" Kiku said, bowing a little then realizing he had not spoken English "I-I mean" he began to blush again "Thank you very much!"

"Woah" Alfred said "You're really native from Japan? How long have you lived here?" He looked as if he might jump out of his seat with excitement "I've always wanted to go to Japan!"

"U-um…yes, I just came at the beginning of the summer" Kiku answered him.

"Oh man that's so cool! Wait, wait say "election"!"

"Oh my God Alfred!" Arthur groaned "Now that's just not all that nice!"

"Come on Art! I always wanted to try this!" He turned back to Kiku expectantly.

Kiku, very confused, slowly spoke "um…election? [pron: erection with accent]"

"Bwahahah!" Alfred bust out laughing "Aw man that was great! Thanks dude." Even Francis was chuckling a bit. Kiku was horribly confused.

"I don't understand" he said "What's so funny?"

"Dude" Alfred chuckled "It sounds like you're saying erection."

Kiku, still as confused as ever, needed to type it into his phone. Erection he typed into the translator, quietly patiently he waited for it to translate into Japanese. 勃起 came up on his phone screen. A slow deep red blush spread across his face.

"Aww man don't be that way" Alfred patted him on the back "It was just a harmless joke man, no harm done"

"I-I am slightly embarrassed though" Kiku was really humuliated, not only had he been fooled but he'd been fooled by his crush. He felt horribly silly.

Alfred's face fell "Ah Kiku are you alright? I didn't mean to embarrass you…"

"I knew you shouldn't have made him say it." Arthur chimed in.

"Arthur," Francis scolded "this is not the time to be deciding who is right or not"

"No, it's okay" Kiku sighed "I'm used to it." He'd never had all that many friends before so, he was just about getting ready to leave when Alfred grabbed his wrist.

"Wait Kiku, don't go!" he chuckled, but it was half heartedly "I really didn't mean for you to be so embarrassed, I know I can be pretty oblivious but please stay!" He grinned widely as if he knew his apology would mean something, and it did. His bright blue eyes shone with true regret and want for Kiku to stay, or at least that's what Kiku wanted his eyes to say.

Kiku sat back down slowly, and finally took his lunch out.

"Woah! Neat!" Alfred exclaimed looking over Kiku's shoulder "That's like one of those Benito boxes right?"

"Alfred, Benito was a dictator, Benito Mussolini! That's a bento box." Arthur grunted "For goodness sakes, I wonder where your head is half the time!"

"It's no biggie!" Alfred smiled "I know now don't I?"

Kiku smiled "Yes it is a bento box, I make them myself before I leave. It's something my older brother Yao used to teach me. I'm too old for it now but I still do it."

"Naw dude I think it's awesome! You'll have to teach me sometime!" Alfred said, as he took a large bite out of one of his hamburgers.

"Please Alfred" Arthur commented "You would rather sit through a Shakespeare play than eat anything healthy."

Alfred scrunched up his nose "Ugh, Shakespeare. That stuff is way too dull for me. Kiku's food looks really good anyway!"

"Well you never ate _my_ food!" Arthur huffed.

"Said the guy who burned a sandwich" Alfred rolled his eyes and continued to eat. "What do you say Kiku, how about we hang out tomorrow after school and you teach me how to make one of those bento-y things?"

"U-uh…" Kiku was slightly overwhelmed. His crush had just asked him to hang out after school- this was his dream come true! He should have been jumping at the chance to say yes but all he could do was sit there and stutter like an idiot.

Alfred hadn't seemed to have noticed, he continued to talk "Do you have video games too? I love video games! And scary movies!"

"Oh please." Arthur said quietly to himself.

Kiku blinked "U-uh yeah we have a lot of the new scary movies in Japan and the new video games, I can always translate for you I guess…" He trailed off and looked down at his lunch, beginning to eat it again.

"That. Is. Awesome!" Alfred grinned and chomped down the rest of his burger "I am so looking forward to tomorrow then!"

"Don't you have a football meeting?" Arthur grunted, obviously not liking the American's excitement.

Alfred laughed "As if I would miss something like that, we don't start practice or anything until Thursday. How disappointing I wished we started on the first day."

"I've never seen an American football game" Kiku looked confused "How does it work?"

Alfred's face was dumbfounded "Whaaaat?" he dragged out, looking as if he were going to cry.

Arthur stood up, "I've had enough of this foolish behavior, and I don't want to stick around for any of it much longer." He turned to Kiku, "Kiku, it was nice meeting you, I'm sure we'll see each other around and at lunch of course and just let me know if you need any help with your English work. Come on Francis we have things that need to be done." Arthur abruptly turned on his heels and started walking away.

Francis grinned, wiggled his eyebrows at the boys, and got up "I suppose it's time for me to say my goodbyes as well. Au revoir! I hope things turn out in your favor." He smiled slyly and chased after Arthur "Arthur! _ne pas se coucher! Qu'avez-vous prévu pour nous? Honhon doit nous répondre dans le placard?"_

"Bloody hell Francis use English!" Arthur snapped from a ways down the hall.

"Good thing they don't teach French at this school…" Kiku mumbled "I'm sure Francis would get expelled." he sighed "Don't you think Arthur over reacted a little bit?"

"Ah that's just Arthur" Alfred waved it by with his hand "He always over reacts and he's just mad because he doesn't know the first thing about American football. Something about that guy, he just can't understand it."

"Oh, maybe you can explain it to me…" Kiku said, hoping that Alfred would be the one to explain it to him.

"Of course dude! But we really have to be at a game to have it make sense. Have you ever seen a baseball game?! I love those!"

Kiku shook his head "No I haven't"

"Oh man!" Alfred exclaimed, smacking his hand to his forehead. "I guess we're going to have a lot to do together then!"

A light blush dusted Kiku's face, he wondered if Alfred was flirting with him, or if it was just in his head. "Y-yeah!" He said, and smiled. "I'm looking forward to that."


	2. Chapter 2 The School Play

CHAPTER 2: THE SCHOOL PLAY

The next day Kiku waited excitedly for Alfred by the school bus stop. Yesterday after lunch, his day had begun to look up. His math teacher really seemed to have liked him, and math was one of Kiku's best subjects so he was going to look forward to that class every day. His other classes had been alright too, though he didn't like having to take P.E. this year. Kiku wasn't what you might call "sports oriented;" in fact he was quite the opposite. His knees had gotten rather weak after only a few minutes running and he knew then that this year would prove to be difficult. Today he turned in all of his signed forms in early, only Miss Arlovaskaya hadn't been impressed. Luckily for Kiku he'd sent his essays to Arthur last night for him to look at, he'd had made a considerable amount of corrections but in the end they were still Kiku's essays. Kiku hadn't thought that seeing the look on Miss Arlovaskaya's face would be so enjoyable after turning in two very well written essays, but it was. In first period Mr. Densen had made them do an improv exercise. Kiku tried his best though, he hadn't thought he did all that well and performing in such a small room wasn't usually his forte.

Alfred came from around the corner suddenly, Kiku jumped "oh Alfred! H-Hello!" he said nervously trying not to blush.

Alfred grinned widely, not noticing Kiku's tension "What's up?"

Kiku tried to relax "N-not much, the school days are shorter here than in Japan so…"

He trailed off as Alfred interrupted him "What?! Man to me the day seems to drag on, though I was looking forward to seeing you. How long are the school days in Japan?"

Kiku began to walk to his house, which was, luckily for him, near the school " In Japan the days start around 8:30 and end at 4, but most everyone stays until 6"

"Woah" Alfred's eyes widened "I could never stay at school that long."

Kiku shrugged "You get used to it after a while I guess."

Alfred shook his head "I don't think I could do that, when do you have time for video games and stuff?"

"I don't know, I guess we just play whenever we have the time." Kiku smiled "Japan is a great place though, don't let the school thing dampen your feeling toward it."

Alfred shook his head "No way man, I still want to go there some day."

"Maybe you could visit my hometown" Kiku looked away and blushed.

"Dude, that would be awesome!" Alfred pumped his fist in the air "I will definitely do that someday."

Kiku smiled secretly to himself "I think that would be fun."

For the rest of the walk Alfred talked about his interest in comic books and super heroes. Kiku couldn't help but think it was cute how Alfred would go off about his love of Super Man and Batman, though he loved Super Man more. Kiku learned that day of Super Man's weaknesses and strengths and all the villains he fought right up until they got up to Kiku's doorway. Kiku began to take out his keys.

"Why don't you just ring the bell?" Alfred questioned.

"Oh, my mom's not home." Kiku said somewhat quietly. He found the key he was looking for and slid it into the lock.

"Why doesn't your mom stay at home?" Alfred asked, cocking his head to the side again.

Kiku shook his head "Both my parents work, they won't be home until quite a bit later." He tried his best to hide a blush, knowing that his private thoughts would probably never come true.

"Oh, that's cool man, I wish I got some time alone at home but my mom stays at home all day. My dad works till pretty late but he keeps tabs on me being an ex-military man and all…" Alfred trailed off and looked down at his now shuffling feet.

Kiku ignored the awkwardness and went ahead and opened the door. He wasn't really sure what Alfred had meant on "tabs". He figured that since he'd just said his dad was ex-military that he didn't know Alfred was gay. But maybe he was beginning to suspect something if he ever went any further than holding hands with his girlfriend. He guessed that Alfred didn't want to discuss his sexuality in front of a complete stranger, if that was what Alfred had been referring to of course; he didn't know if Kiku was trustworthy or not. Come to think of it, why had Francis been so trusting with Kiku? Unfortunately he didn't have time to think it over because Alfred was busy ogling his house at a loud volume.

"Dude. Your house is wicked cool!"

Kiku blushed a little "You really think so?"

"Yah man! I've never seen any house like this before!" The outside of the house appeared to be like a normal American home, though the inside was what had amazed Alfred. Tatami mats covered the floors, a low table sat where the dining table would usually be, and cushions surrounded it. In another room were couches and a television, Japanese artwork decorated much of the house, and even bamboo was growing in the corner. It was a mix of modern and traditional eras.

Kiku slipped off his shoes and put his house shoes on, Alfred began to walk forward when Kiku grabbed his wrist, a light blush dusted both their faces "P-Please take your shoes off before you walk any farther! It's tradition, if you want a pair of house shoes we probably have a pair that would fit you."

Alfred looked down at his wrist that Kiku still had a firm grip on. Kiku, coming to the slow realization that he was still holding on to it, quickly let go when he caught on, deepening his own blush. Alfred laughed and took his shoes off, pretending as if it never happened. He also took off his bomber jacket and hung it up on a coat rack. "Naw my socks are fine, I have pretty big feet anyway so…"

"I see…" Kiku began to say, but Alfred continued to talk.

"And you know what they say about having big feet and hands don't you?"

Kiku shook his head, he really wasn't familiar with any American phrases or customs considering he'd spent most of his summer inside not knowing anyone.

"Dude, I have so much to teach you" Alfred chuckled "but they say it means you have a big dick, which is totally true!" Alfred laughed louder this time and began to march around as if he were a superhero. Kiku blushed and looked away, wondering if this was what American boys really talked about together, or if Alfred had been flirting with him.

Kiku quickly changed the topic. "H-how about we get some homework done before we make bento boxes and play video games?"

Alfred deflated almost immediately "Homework? Really? Do we have to?"

Kiku nodded his head "Yes, I like it to be the first thing I do before anything else."

Alfred sighed heavily and threw himself back onto some of the mats on the floor, near the table "fiiinnee"

Kiku smiled to himself and sat down on the other side of the table. He pulled his calculus book out first. Alfred sat up reluctantly and pulled his own out. Kiku raised his eyebrows in surprise "You're in calculus?"

Alfred paused before opening it. "Yeah, so?"

"Well I just thought…" Kiku blushed

"Thought what?" Alfred's face showed hurt, as if he knew what Kiku was going to say next. Perhaps it was something that had been said to him more than once before.

"Well I just thought…American students weren't all that smart"

Alfred blinked and looked extremely offended "Not all Americans are dumbasses you know."

"Yes I know but your te-"

"Don't even get started on that! I'm tired of hearing about how America is so low in schooling, we're not Kiku! Every other country just puts their highest scores together whereas we put _all _of our scores together. We're not stupid and in fact a lot of exchange students struggle when they get here so don't talk bad about this country!"

Kiku blinked in surprise "I had no idea Alfred…" He blushed and looked down "I'm sorry!"

Alfred frowned "I'm sorry I got so excited, but I just got brought up with a lot of different cultures. When I look at other countries and other cultures and compare it with our own…I mean, yes, we have our problems, but so do they. And we have just as many great things as other countries! Maybe more!" Alfred winked "And you mean to tell me that Japan is perfect in every way?"

Kiku sat back and thought for a moment "I guess…there are some things I don't like"

Alfred grinned "You see, man! No country is perfect. The grass is always greener on the other side."

Kiku blinked "I don't know this phrase"

Alfred scratched his head "Uum it just means like, when things aren't going so great for you it seems like someone else's life might be a breeze and it looks _really _nice. Like better grass than your own I guess, and you want that grass but really the grass isn't as nice as it looks and neither is another person's life. Did I explain that okay?"

Kiku nodded "I think I understand now, I agree."

Alfred grinned "Great! I'm glad."

Kiku began to think that he had never seen a happier or upbeat kid in his life, Alfred never seemed to be too sore about anything. "Let's do our math" He said, finally opening his book.

Alfred nodded "Mhm! Good thing this isn't English or we might have to call Art!"

Kiku chuckled "You're not good at English? But it's your first language!"

Alfred chuckled a little "I know, but I just can't seem to grasp all the grammar and stuff all the time."

"Huh weird" Kiku shrugged and took his pencil out.

"Say, could I borrow one of those?" Alfred asked, eyes wide with hope.

"A pencil?" Kiku asked, holding his own up. Alfred nodded his head vehemently. "Um, sure, just try to return it"

"Of course!" Al grinned.

Kiku tossed him a pencil and began his own work as Alfred started his, Alfred also took a snack pack out of his bag and munched on that during the time. Kiku couldn't help but between each problem sneak peeks at Alfred working. His arm moving slowly as he worked, the way his shirt fell against his muscles in, what Kiku thought, was the most attractive way possible. His glasses kept slipping down his nose as he pushed them back up to his bright blue eyes. So blue, Kiku thought, that they looked like the sky on the clearest day. Though after he pushed them up, he would curse under his breath about how he didn't really want to wear them. His golden hair was somewhat shaggy, but straight except for one cowlick that just couldn't seem to stay down. Kiku thought he looked like he could be one of the boys drawn on the old Coca-Cola adds he'd seen in his history books. He thought maybe Alfred had been sneaking peeks back at him, but he was sure it was just his imagination.

The two boys worked hard on their math for an hour or so, then moved on to Current Events and other subjects they had homework in. Somehow in the end of all of it they had ended up next to one another, shoulders touching. "Are you almost finished?" Kiku asked, putting the last of this homework back in his backpack.

"Yeah, but whatever, I can finish this later" Alfred shrugged and shoved the papers into his messy bag. "Let's make some food man! I'm starving."

"You were eating almost the whole time we were doing work" Kiku smirked a little as he said this.

"Yeah I've always been an eater, why do you think I exercise so much? I do a good job keeping it off right?" He laughed and posed for Kiku, who blushed and looked away quickly.

"Ah yes! You do!" He began to walk into the kitchen. "Let's begin then, shall we?" He tried not to let his voice crack at the end, though he was sure it did.

Alfred bounded after him "alright! Food!"

"Agh stop shooting me Alfred!"

"I'm sorry I just can't get the controls for some reason!"

"Maybe if your hand was on the remote instead of in the chip bag you could navigate!"

"That is _not _the problem!" Alfred took another mouthful of chips.

"Sure it's not..." Kiku rolled his eyes as he dodged another one of Alfred's errant bullets.

The door opened behind the two boys and closed with a loud bang. "きくただいま！あなたと誰かか？"

"こんにちはママ！はい、私の新しい友人アルフレッドはこちら！"Kiku replied to his mother.

The older woman walked in, surprised to see how muscular the young American boy was. She spoke in broken English "Hello, I am Kiku's mother"

Alfred paused the game and turned around "Hi Mrs. Honda! I'm Alfred!" He grinned and waved. "It's nice to meet you."

She smiled wearily "Nice to meet you too." Alfred resumed the game after she didn't say anything else. Quietly she turned to Kiku "あなたの家事菊をやったことがありますか？私は、彼らが終了されていないことを表示したくない！" (have you done your chores? I don't want to see that they're not done!)

Kiku sighed as Alfred killed his character by mistake again. He turned to his mother "私はそれらを行っていないんママ、私は一日中アルフレッドとの宿題をやっていないしてきた."(No mom I haven't done them, I've been doing homework with Alfred all day)

Kiku's mother sighed heavily "あなたは、別の時間をかけてあなたの友人を持っている必要があるとしている、彼らが行われる必要がある。彼を家に送ってください。"(Well they need to be done! Send Alfred home, you have to finish)

Kiku whined "しかし、お母さん！" (but mom!)

"いいえ言い訳ん！今さあ！"(No buts!) She said, snappily. She walked into the kitchen and began to start dinner.

Kiku turned to Alfred and paused the game "My mom says you have to go home…"

Alfred looked at him, a little disappointed "What? Why?"

Kiku huffed "I have to do chores."

Alfred deflated "Oh man that's so lame! We didn't even get to watch any scary movies!"

Kiku chuckled "It's only Tuesday, you can come spend the night Friday if you want"

"Really?!" Alfred brightened "But I want you to see my house too!"

A light blush dusted Kiku's face. "R-really?"

Alfred nodded "In fact why don't you stop by _my _house on Friday, bring some movies!"

"U-Um okay!" Kiku said.

"You can just take the bus with me right after school."

Kiku nodded and stood up "That sounds like fun!"

Alfred stood with him "Great!" He walked to the door and put his bomber jacket back on,

then paused. "Um Kiku…"

"Yeah?" Kiku asked.

"How am I going to get home? The busses left like four hours ago…"

"I-I didn't think of that!" Kiku's face got slightly pale "Can't you call your parents over?"

Alfred shook his head "My phone died when we were doing homework."

Kiku blinked. He didn't want it to seem like he really wanted Alfred to leave but he didn't want his mother to get angry. He hesitated "Maybe you could use my phone."

"Could I?" Alfred asked, as he slung his backpack across his broad shoulders.

"Sure, but I have to start my chores while you wait."

"That's fine" Alfred commented.

Kiku nodded and went back to get his cell phone. His mom spoke to him from the kitchen "彼が去った？" (Has he left?)

"いいえ、彼は彼を来て、取得するために彼の両親に電話する必要がある。" (No, he needs to phone his parents to come and get him).

"大丈夫まあとにかくあなたの雑用を開始" (Oh, okay, well start your chores anyway).

"私はとにかく母親としていた..." (I was going to, mother…) Kiku found his phone and jogged back to Alfred before his mom could say anything more.

"Here you go!" He handed it to Alfred who immediately eyeballed Kiku's sushi phone charm.

"Dude, aren't these like for girls?" he chuckled and hit it with his finger.

Kiku blushed "It's from Yao, he was always a little girly"

"And Yao is…?"

"My brother, away at university"

"Ah, now I remember" Alfred smiled "I won't be long on the phone dude, don't worry." Alfred turned away from Kiku and dialed his parents.

Kiku nodded, though Alfred wasn't facing him anymore and watched him for a moment. Before he could ogle anymore he pulled his eyes away and began his chores.

Alfred went home about half an hour later. The two boys had discussed what horror movies Kiku was going to bring to Alfred's house on Friday. They had decided on two which Kiku was sure had subtitles. Kiku had tried not to look at Alfred too much, but he couldn't help himself. His eyes constantly flowed back up from the floor, looking over Alfred's body and face. He was hoping that Alfred hadn't been noticing, Kiku had been pretty obvious though he thought.

It wasn't just physical attraction to Alfred though for Kiku. He really enjoyed having conversations with Alfred as well, they always found things to talk about or discuss. Not to mention that Alfred was really interested in Japanese culture, Kiku was happy to talk about it too. There was nothing more he loved than Japan, though he had second thoughts on this now that Alfred had come into his life. Kiku was crushing on him pretty hard. Alfred not only liked to learn about Japanese culture but he also loved to talk about American culture. Kiku was happy to listen because he wanted to know as much as he could about American culture, almost just as much as Alfred wanted to know about Japanese culture. It made a good balance between them. More than anything though, it seemed like Alfred wanted to try out Japanese food, which came as no surprise to Kiku by now. He did promise to take Alfred out for it some time, but for now Alfred would just have to take the bento box he'd made that night to school the next day.

Over the next few days Kiku worked hard on his school work. He never turned in a late assignment and always kept on top of things as best he could. He really didn't want any homework for the weekend, especially since he'd be at Alfred's house. Mostly though, in his spare time, he would spend the day preparing for the school play audition that Mr. Densen was forcing him to do. It was also on Friday, which Kiku thought to be odd, being so early in the year. He thought it better not to argue with Mr. Densen though, so he kept his mouth shut.

It was Thursday and Kiku was going over his monologue. He'd chosen a woman's monologue and not known it though; because of his poor English and lack of people to go over it with no one had corrected him on this massive detail. It was of course from Catholic School Girls. Kiku hadn't known that all the monologues from that show were for women- he'd just assumed he'd found a male part. He practiced it in front of the mirror- adding in his hand motions and all. Of course being the overachiever he loved to be, he was going to put his all into this, in efforts to impress Mr. Densen and hopefully make him think better of him. After going over the monologue for what he thought must've been the thirtieth time, he sat down by the piano.

"Now" he said to himself "I'll practice my song" He sat there for a moment to take a short break and took a deep breath.

It had been a long week for Kiku. After Alfred had come over on Tuesday, school hadn't gotten any easier. Some uneducated students had asked him if he was a Kamikaze pilot and shot spit balls at him; he got called other names sometimes too. Other students had apologized for the behavior of the previous students but it didn't make him feel much better. He wondered if German exchange students went through the same sort of unusual torture. There was one in the school that Kiku sat next to in one of his classes- Ludwig, his name was. Kiku would have to befriend him and ask. The one thing he was thankful for was that no one besides Francis had caught on to the fact about Kiku's sexuality. He was sure that the bullying might get worse then. For now he could just ignore them and hope that it might pass. He dismissed these thoughts quickly and cracked his knuckles. As gracefully as he could, he put his fingers on the keys and began to play the opening to his audition song.

Kiku had been playing the piano for as long as he could remember. His fingers graced the keys as he touched each one lightly, causing a wonderful melody to come from the instrument. When lyrics came, he hesitated but began to sing. Surprisingly he possessed a very nice voice. Kiku didn't know, and was much better than he thought he was. He sang through his audition song a few times, feeling more confident each time he ran through it. After a while Kiku felt more than satisfied. He stood up from his piano bench and stretched. He looked at the clock. It wasn't late enough for his mom to be home, but it wasn't early enough to get a good start on his homework either. He glanced at his phone. It was showing that he had a message. He quickly picked his phone up to see who it was from. His heart skipped a beat it- Alfred had sent him the message.

"Are we still on for Friday night?" it read. Kiku smiled, wishing Alfred was talking about a date. A sleepover was good enough for him though.

"Yes, of course. I'm going to your house right?" He replied.

"Yepp, my house after school bro. See you then!"

With that, the conversation ended. Though a fluttering feeling was left in Kiku's heart for quite a while. Kiku had fallen hard for Alfred, and it would be difficult getting out of it.

During school on Friday Kiku found that he was more nervous than he thought he'd be. Not only for spending the night at Alfred's, but also for the auditions. Kiku felt very unprepared, though he was sure that no matter how much he prepared- be it months, weeks, or days- he'd still feel unprepared. His palms kept on sweating and he found that he kept daydreaming in his classes, thinking about how things were going to go later and hoping that they'd go well. Even in Miss Arovlaskia's class when he'd been called on, he hadn't been focused. Instead he'd been caught off guard and couldn't answer her question. This had been a bad move on Kiku's part – he got hit with a ruler. He walked to lunch, still rubbing his sore hands and back. He checked for bleeding but couldn't find any, he was sure he was close though; Kiku was sure being hit with a ruler was illegal in America now but he wasn't going to talk to the principal about it. Since Kiku had arrived at the school Mr. Barinski had been wandering through the main building occasionally, he would smile at Kiku whenever passing him- but that smile made Kiku want to break down and cry. He had tried, feebly, to smile back at him. There was no way he would have the courage to complain about Miss Arovlaskia though. He was sure that there must be some reason she hadn't been fired or jailed yet so he saw no point in filing a complaint. For now he'd just have to remember not to daydream in her class, which would be difficult because it was a rather dull class. As he entered the lunch room he quickly sat down in his now usual spot by the window. Francis was already there, alone though. Kiku sat down across from him and pulled his lunch out.

"Where's Arthur?" Kiku asked, truly wondering where the other half of Francis was.

Francis huffed. "Bastard is in the bathroom."

Kiku frowned a little. "Do you two ever get along?"

A long sigh came from the Frenchman "Let me put it like this- when I want to be friendly with him, he's mad at me. When he wants to be friendly with me, I'm mad at him. I could say though, I suppose, that I could not live without him."

"So you're saying you get along…?"

"Oui, more often than it appears anyway."

"You could have just said that to begin with…"

"Mmm" Francis mused "but it was more fun to give you a fuller answer."

Kiku was about to say something when Arthur stomped over and slammed himself down next to Francis, pulled his lunch out violently and smacked it down on the table. He was wearing a black turtle neck and dark jeans, Kiku thought this was odd considering it was still somewhat early September and the Weather was still fairly warm. Francis grinned. "Black sweater, I approve."

"Fucking French idiot!" He snapped at Francis.

"Is that really appropriate Arthur?" He asked, leaning into Arthur slightly.

"Yes it is!" He bit his sandwich and brushed Francis's hand away which had been fingering its way into the neck of the sweater "Get off me, Frog" he scooted away.

Francis frowned "We'll talk about this later…"

"Mmmm, yes, later." Arthur mused "This wouldn't be the same later that you might be flirting with some woman is it?"

"I was not flirting Arthur, that's just the way I talk…"

Arthur looked over at Kiku and hesitated a moment "…Fine we'll talk about it later, but only because I don't want to be rude. How are you Kiku?"

Kiku blinked, he hadn't suspected that the conversation would be directed to him. He took a moment to answer "I'm doing fine, thank you…" He paused, wondering if it would be appropriate to continue his sentence. He decided that since we was foreign they might not think it was odd anyway. "And you?"

Arthur looked over at Francis and then back at Kiku. "I'm mad at Frog over here."

Francis grunted "What else is new?"

Kiku sighed "if you want to talk it out now, you can."

"Non, it should be done in private, we don't want to drag you into this, Kiku." Francis answered, smiling.

Kiku nodded and mumbled a quiet thank you, he looked down at his bento box and picked at the food. The pause was long and quiet, only filled with the background sounds of the lunch room and the almost silent noises of the three boys eating their lunch. It wasn't much longer until the silence was broken, Alfred bounded over and practically slammed his lunch tray down, he sat down next to Kiku.

Arthur grunted "Well, you're late today."

Alfred grinned cockily "I know, sorry. But I have to divide my lunch if I want to sit with you all."

"What do you mean?" Kiku asked.

"Well, I want to sit with my football friends and you guys, this way I can do both."

"I see… what about your lunch? You haven't started eating it?" Kiku looked down at

Alfred's almost full plate of food. The thought surprised Kiku.

Alfred only laughed "Naw, I just got seconds. All the working out really makes a difference in your appetite." he remarked, and took a bite of his food.

Kiku hid a smile; the thought of Alfred working out made him tingle with giddiness inside. "Oh…" Kiku trailed off, mostly because Alfred continued talking after swallowing his food.

"Speaking of working out, yesterday was a doozy! I mean, coach had us running a lot because the guys kept goofing off and I just haven't been out in the field for so long that…"

Alfred continued to talk as Francis leaned over and whispered to Kiku.

"If you want to be less obvious you might want to try looking at him more…in the eye so to say. Your eyes have definitely fallen to ahm…lower regions don't you think?" Francis smirked slightly as a slight blush tickled Kiku's face, he nodded and fixed his gaze more on Alfred's eyes.

"….And so anyway, that's why I'm so sore today! Hey that rhymed!" He laughed and Arthur just shook his head.

"Really Alfred, can't you tell a story with a little more depth?"

"Mmm" Alfred pretended to think about it as he munched absent mindedly on a few French fries. "I suppose I could retell that one, if you really want to hear it again…" he chuckled a little, mostly because he knew Arthur had no interest in hearing his story for a second time.

"No, no that's fine Al. Just something to keep in mind."

"Whatever you say Art."

"That's not my name." Arthur scolded.

"Yes it is."

"Maybe when we were going out," Arthur hissed "but I have no desire to be called under such a name any longer."

Alfred's eyes grew wide. "Shhh!" He ducked his head "Not so loud about that! Someone might hear!"

Arthur scoffed and sat back. "What that you're gay? Who cares?"

"I care!" Alfred practically shouted, then realizing that he might draw attention to himself, quieted down. "It could ruin my reputation here."

"Please." Arthur flouted

Alfred sneered a little. "Why are you being this way today? Did you have a fight with your French boyfriend again?"

Francis perked up at the mention of himself. "I have a name you know…!"

Both boys ignored him. "He's not my boyfriend!" Arthur scowled "I hate him!"

Kiku noted that Francis had not denied anything, only Arthur was sputtering as if it was something he didn't want to admit.

"Oh, yeah right, and you're not trying to hide the hickeys on your neck with that sweater!"

Arthur blushed heavily at Alfred's comment and tried pulling the turtle neck farther up his neck. Alfred continued. "Oh, and I'm sure you're thinking about how much you hate him while you're fucking…again! Am I right? Or how about the tender kisses I've had the privilege to witness, and you're always on top of one another with the hair stroking and those loving touches, sure that doesn't seem at all like a boyfriend Arthur."

"Shut up!" Arthur screeched. "He's an ugly frog that I want to punch in the face!"

"I'm right here, you know." Francis tried to comment, looking unamused that the two boys. The argument was too heated at this point though, for them to acknowledge any outside source.

"Oh sure, okay" Alfred said sarcastically. "Next time you're in bed with him say that."

"You're just jealous!" Arthur leaned forward. "I see now!"

"I'm _not _jealous, if I wanted to be in a relationship I could be in one."

"In private," Arthur grunted. "And I bet that drives you mad!"

"Tch, at least I'm not in denial!"

"I am not in denial."

"Then what do you call that then? Hm? Sounded like denial to me!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

The argument had become somewhat loud and Kiku shrunk down in his seat. Francis looked at him sympathetically.

"Sometimes they still fight pretty badly, this is not the worst I've seen it."

"Oh…" Kiku frowned, Arthur seemed to have an extremely strong personality that clashed with a lot of other people. Though now Kiku had just found out about Arthur and Francis being together thanks to the heated argument.

"I suppose," Francis started "that I ought break them up now."

He leaned forward and put a hand on each of them. "Hey both of you! You're scaring Kiku!" Both boys stopped talking and paused for a moment. "Haven't you seen him shrinking down in his seat? You're going to chase him away." Francis continued. "You can finish this argument later, but can we please have a peaceful lunch?"

Both boys glared a little at each other and nodded, Alfred then turned to Kiku and Arthur turned to Francis.

Alfred looked almost afraid, his face was slightly pale. He spoke but more hushed than usual. "Well I guess you know my secret now, I completely forgot that you'd been sitting there. Are you going to tell the whole school? I would do anything for you to keep it a secret."

Kiku paused, realizing that in argument Alfred had admitted to being gay. Alfred continued talking, taking Kiku's silence as a bad sign. "Look, please Kiku, it's really important for me to keep my reputation up and I can't let it get ruined over one silly argument…! I'm begging you…"

Kiku looked at him for a bit, staring at the desperation in Alfred's eyes. It was a look he wasn't unfamiliar with, from the days of when he was quite the tyrant. He'd beat kids and beat them until they would beg for mercy. The same eyes stared at him now, pleading for him to help. When he was a kid they used to say they would do anything for him to stop; they would cry and beg. Rarely he would- only if it would prove to benefit him in the end. Not wanting to dwell much on the past, Kiku spoke "You don't have to worry about me, I'm good at keeping secrets." He smiled a little. "Besides," he continued "I'm keeping the same one." Kiku didn't know why he'd felt like sharing his own secret but it had felt good.

Alfred's eyes widened. "Really?"

Kiku nodded, Alfred's shoulders relaxed and he grinned "Th-that's such a relief!"

"Oh, I'm glad." Kiku smiled a little. "Let's change the subject, you seem a little shaken up."

Alfred nodded vehemently. "Yeah, let's."

"Are you ready for the audition later today?" Kiku asked.

"Yeah, I can't afford to let my grades drop or I can't do sports."

"What do you mean?" Kiku cocked his head; he really didn't know much about sports- let alone school sports.

Alfred leaned back a little "Well it's school policy here that if I have anything below a C

I'm not allowed to play, so if I start to fail drama I'm gonna be cut from the team for a while."

"Oh..." Kiku said. Not really sure how else to go on about it. He hadn't realized how tough American schools could be on their students. He really had thought it was a free for all.

"'Oh' is right, I've been working really hard on it, the audition that is, I even asked my friend Elizabeta. She's in drama, and she was able to help me out. I want it to be perfect!"

"That's a lot to ask for…"

"Okay well maybe not_ perfec_t perfect, but as good as I can make it."

"Me too." Kiku pit his lunch box in his backpack and zipped it up. "I don't think Mr. Densen likes us very much right now, anyway."

"No kidding! I'm getting pretty tired of his nasty looks."

"I think he thinks I'm a girl…" Kiku scrunched his nose up and rested his head on his hands.

Alfred practically choked on his lunch as he started laughing. "What? Why? That's crazy!"

"Well whenever he motions to me he's saying she, or her. Those are girl things right? Do I look that…" Kiku searched for the word in his mind. "…feminine?"

Alfred looked him over. "Well…not gonna lie dude, but you do look a little softer than most guys do."

Kiku blushed a little "I hadn't realized."

Alfred shrugged "He's probably just being racist."

"What, as in all Asian people look the same?"

"Exactly!"

"That's ridiculous, we do not!"

"Hey bro, I know you don't, but try telling it to some old man who's probably been brought up with racist views."

Kiku sighed, knowing he'd been defeated there. "Guess I'll just have to live my Drama life as a girl."

Alfred chuckled "That might not be _so _terrible."

Kiku punched him lightly. "Don't say things to make me feel better."

Alfred said something, but the bell rang and Kiku missed it.

"What?" He asked, but Alfred had already taken off and was meeting with his football teammates. Kiku sighed, he knew he would be going home with Alfred after the audition but he couldn't help but wonder just what Alfred had said.

3:00 came, and Kiku made his way into the choir room for auditions. Alfred was there, as well a bunch of kids from Drama class. There were a few Kiku didn't recognize. He figured they were either from another period or just not in Drama at school. There was one girl sitting next to Alfred whom Kiku did not recognize. She had long brown hair and was wearing a dress. Kiku tried to think if he'd seen her in the hallways during passing period. He was sure that he didn't have any classes with her. He thought maybe he had seen her once or twice and could only guess by the way she and Alfred were talking that he must be the girl he was talking about earlier- the one who was good at drama. Kiku wracked his head for her name, he knew it started with an E but it just wasn't coming to him. He'd only heard her name once after all. Suddenly Kiku's thoughts were interrupted by a loud man who barged in suddenly, surprising him and practically knocking him onto the ground.

"Kesesese! The awesome Gilbert is here to audition!" Kiku had thought the man had a funny laugh. Well, not only that, but he looked funny as well. Kiku had never seen a true albino before. He couldn't help but stare for a moment. His white, almost blond hair gleamed in the light and his bright red eyes shone with some strange determination. It was as if one hundred years of war and the excitement of a twelve year old shone behind those eyes at once. Kiku wondered how one man could seem so old, and so young at the same time. He glanced around the room, everyone was staring at Gilbert, except for the girl next to Alfred who had her head in her hand, she was blushing furiously and shaking her head.

Gilbert continued to talk. He spoke with a heavy accent. "I know you all thought I might not show up, but I wouldn't miss this! Especially because my little brother will be teaching!"

Suddenly a taller, blond-haired, blue-eyed man walked in and ushered Gilbert along. Kiku recognized him as Ludwig from class. "_Komm jetzt._" (Come now.) He said gruffly under his voice "_du blamierst dich_" (You're embarrassing.)

"_Ich blamiere mich nicht_!" (I am not embarrassing!) he shouted back causing the taller man to blush more.

"_Ja, das tust du! Bitte setzt dich!_" (Yes, you are! Now please sit down!) Ludwig ushered Gilbert into a seat, trying his hardest not to let his blushing face get any redder.

At this point Alfred directed his attention to Kiku, who had been standing next to Gilbert. It was now Kiku's turn to blush as Alfred waved with a dramatic wagging motion. "Hey, Kiku! Come sit by me and Elizabeta!"

Kiku hesitated for a moment. Finally he went over and sat down by Alfred. Elizabeta leaned forward, almost with a concerning look on her face. Somewhat creepy. "Hello." She smiled, and the creepiness disappeared in an instant. "I'm Elizabeta, you must be Kiku, Alfred's new friend. I've heard an awful lot about you." The way she said that made Kiku uneasy. Alfred frowned and gave Elizabeta a look. She just shrugged.

Kiku pursed his lips. "Hello, I'm sorry, I just learned about you today and…I don't know that much."

She looked almost insulted, and slapped Alfred in the shoulder "Al! You don't talk about me?!"

"Ow!" He rubbed his shoulder. "Man, Elizabeta, I'm a football player and that hurt! No, I don't really talk about you that much. No one asks about you. I don't know any more drama people besides Gilbert, and that's only because you're with him! …Well maybe Roderich too, but he's in band anyway, and you don't really talk about him much anymore…"

"Well, we broke up, so that makes sense! Seriously though, you _never _talk about me?"

"Well…" Kiku interjected, freezing as both heads stopped talking and turned to look at him

"He obviously doesn't never talk about you if I had heard of you before."

"Yeah!" Alfred jumped on with him "I do talk about you Elizabeta!"

"Humph!" She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, throwing herself against her seat. "Not enough, anyway!"

Suddenly Gilbert jumped over the seat and sat down next to Elizabeta. "H_allo, mein Schatz, stoeren diese Maenner dich? Ich kann sie verpruegeln…_" (Hello my treasure/love, are these men bothering you? I can beat them up…) He nuzzled her neck and gently kissed it.

She pushed him away "_Gil, nicht in der Öffentlichkeit…nein, diese Maenner sind meine Freunde… das sind Alfred und Kiku, aber du hast Alfred vor einer Weile kennengelernt._" (Gil, not so public…no these men are my friends… That's Alfred and Kiku, but you met Alfred a while ago.)

Gilbert sat back "A_hhh ja, der Alfred, der amerikanische Fussballspieler… okay. Wie steht's mit dem kleinen Asiaten? Ein japanischer Austauschschueler_?" (Ah yea, Alfred, the American football player. What about the little Asian? A Japanese exchange student?)

Elizabeta nodded "_Ja, er kommt aus Japan. Koennen wir englisch sprechen? Ich denke, das ist ein bisschen unfair, wenn wir nur deustch sprechen._" (Yes, he comes from Japan. Can we speak English? I think its unfair when we only speak German.)

"Aehm…okay…" Gilbert cleared his throat, leaned forward, and extended his hand almost civilly to Kiku. He spoke with his heavy accent. "Hallo Ich heiss…I mean my name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, I'm Ludwig's Bruder…I mean brother." That confirmed Kiku's suspicions.

Kiku extended his own hand to shake Gilbert's but Gilbert pulled his hand away and laughed "Kesesese! Psych!"

"That's his way of saying 'hello'" Elizabeta explained. "It means he likes you."

Gilbert pouted. "Not always!"

Elizabeta gave Kiku a look that said '_yes, always,_' but thought it better not to argue with him and say so out loud.

"I see…" Kiku shrugged and introduced himself to Gilbert, though he wasn't listening at first and Elizabeta had to elbow him. "I'm Kiku Honda, a student from Japan."

"An exchange student?" Elizabeta asked and cocked her head to the side, Kiku supposed this was who Alfred got it from, or maybe she got it from him.

"No, my family moved here over the summer," Kiku responded.

"Why did you move?" Alfred turned to him and asked.

Kiku was surprised Alfred was the next person to ask him something. He thought he'd told Alfred or at least Alfred had picked it up earlier and thought it inappropriate to ask. He'd never thought that he just hadn't even known. A happy feeling surged through him, knowing that Alfred did, after all, take an interest in his life. "Well money was tight, it was kind of expensive to live in the city and we heard America was cheaper and easier to find a good job, so we moved."

"And you didn't want to come here?" Elizabeta asked, reading the look on Kiku's pained face as he discussed moving.

"No, I didn't, I really like Japan and there are quite a few things I miss about it."

Alfred looked a little hurt, he asked his question, though he asked hesitantly. "So you hate America and don't want to be here at all?"

Kiku felt shocked that Alfred would ask such a question. "N-no, that's not true. Well, at first it was, but not anymore. I met nice people and I'm slowly adjusting. Of course there are things I miss about Japan, but I'll always have that with me." He was careful not to let on that Alfred had been a big reason of his coming to like America.

"Oh, I'm glad then." Alfred relaxed a bit.

Mr. Densen then walked out on stage, grabbing everyone's attention. "Okay everybody, auditions are starting now" He stopped for a moment and looked at Ludwig. "Ludwig, what are you doing here? You're in tech."

Ludwig sunk down in his seat a bit, a light blush dusted his face. "Well… Feliciano is auditioning and so is mein Bruder so…."

"Ah…Feliciano I see, and where is he?"

"He's coming. He's running a little late because he was fighting with his _Bruder_ again…"

"Well, he won't have to go first then, I guess… He had better impress me for being late!"

Kiku leaned over to Alfred and whispered, "Who's Feliciano?"

Before Alfred could answer, Gilbert leaned over Elizabeta with a stupid grin on his face. "_Mein Bruders Freund_…I mean, my brothers boyfriend." The look on Gilbert's face was a mix of disgust and pride for his brother. Disgust, Kiku guessed, was the thought of his own little brother liking men- possibly sleeping with men over other women, pride because he loved his brother very much and he was very happy for him.

Though, based on Gilbert's attitude since Kiku had met him, he couldn't be entirely sure that what he was saying was the complete truth. He looked to Elizabeta to confirm. There was that creepy look on her face again. "Is that true?" He asked her.

She looked at him and nodded. "Yep, it is," she whispered. "They've been together for about a year now."

"A year? Really? I thought Ludwig was an exchange student!"

Elizabeta shook her head. "No, he and Gil moved here three years ago, Feliciano and his brother got here about two years ago."

"I'm sitting right here you know!" Gilbert protested in a louder whisper.

"Yeah, so am I! Kiku, you're practically laying on me!" Alfred said the loudest. Kiku blushed deeply as Alfred pushed him off. Before Kiku could see that Alfred was blushing as well, Mr. Densen cleared his throat loudly in front of them.

"Ah-hem, to the whispering group in the front, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of your audition peers?"

Kiku fell silent, his voice lost by fear, Alfred was about to say something but Gilbert stood up instead. Kiku had a sinking feeling in his stomach "_Nein He_-, I mean, No Mr. Densen we were only discussing my great little brother!"

Ludwig blushed and Mr. Densen put his head in his hands. "I think I can say we've wasted enough time now… How about we-"

"I'm heeeerrreee!" was suddenly heard from down the hall. A short, brown-haired boy burst into the room abruptly. He had a long curl coming off of his head and he looked as happy as a kid that just got a piece of candy. He huffed, "Ve" and looked around the room. "I'm not late am I?"

"Well actually…" Mr. Densen started.

But Feliciano wasn't paying attention, he saw Ludwig across the room, and began to bound toward him. "Ludwig you came!"

Ludwig blushed heavily "ah nein Feliciano!" It was too late, however, because Feliciano tackled him into a large hug that could have knocked anyone down. It didn't seem to have phased the muscular German though.

"Feliciano please sit down."

"Aww but Luddy…"

"Sit!"

Feliciano deflated and sat down next to him. Though he still made it a point to snuggle up next to Ludwig, making him blush as red as a tomato.

Mr. Densen, now looking thoroughly annoyed, cleared his throat loudly. "Can we begin now?" Everyone was quiet. "Alright then…" he relaxed a bit. "Let's get started shall we?"

"Boy what an audition!"

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Why?" Alfred turned to Kiku and smirked, Kiku knew that he knew why, but he just wanted to hear him say it out loud.

"Because of my monologue."

"I thought you did great!"

"Everyone laughed! How was I supposed to know it was for a woman?" Kiku whined and kicked a rock. Alfred tried to hide a few chuckles and stayed silent. Kiku sighed "I have a bad feeling about this…"

"Hey, you couldn't have been any worse than Gilbert!"

Kiku smirked. That was very true. The German man had successfully embarrassed his brother and Elizabeta. The only person who had been impressed was Feliciano. It must not have taken much to impress him. "He sure… will be unforgettable though." Kiku said, searching for the right word.

"Did you see Mr. Densen's face when he was finished?"

"No, I didn't. How did he look?"

Alfred laughed and imitated a look of disgust, over exaggerated of course, but it made Kiku laugh pretty hard. Alfred mimicked his voice "Errmm Gilbert…are you…are you finished? Excuse me while I swallow my throw up…"

Kiku lost it at that. "It really was _that _bad though!"

"So see" Alfred grinned "your audition looked _great _compared to that!"

Kiku nodded, "Okay I see your point. I guess it wasn't like that."

"Not even close…" Alfred smirked and bumped Kiku playfully.

Kiku cleared his throat and tried not to think about how close Alfred was to him. "S-So where is your bus?"

"It's the one after this one" Alfred grunted and pointed to the bus coming up, they were walking down the edge of the school where all the busses lined up. "It's the last bus of the day so, it's the only one we can catch. My usual bus is down at the end." He pointed down there even though Kiku could see it clearly down the end of the way.

"Oh…Will it be a long ride then?"

Alfred scrunched up his nose. "Yeah, but on the bright side it'll just be you and me so we'll have a lot of room to stretch out. Usually I stand on my regular bus."

"Oh? Why?"

"Well…I just like as many people to have seats as possible, if that means I gotta stand then I stand."

"That's nice of you."

"I like to think of myself as a nice guy."

Kiku smiled. To him, Alfred was a dream, anyway; a dream that never ended. Every time he found something out about Alfred, it was something to be proud of or to like about him. Kiku really loved that. Sure, Alfred had secrets, but it was nothing Kiku couldn't handle. It got quiet after Alfred made that comment. Both the boys got onto the bus, and after Alfred had a small discussion with the driver he was allowed on without a bus pass.

"Will I need one for other rides?" Kiku asked him.

"Uhh nah probably not, I'm pretty close with this driver… Well, all the drivers, so it shouldn't be an issue."

"Oh? Why are you so close with them all?" Kiku narrowed his eyes a bit, afraid that Alfred might say that he deals drugs or did sexual things for them.

Instead Kiku was, once again, pleasantly surprised. "My mom has me give them Christmas gifts every year."

"Wow, your parents sound really nice."

"They are!" Alfred grinned cockily. "I know it's odd, but I like them a lot! They're great and I definitely wouldn't trade them for any other parents, I know how lucky I am, dude."

Kiku smiled weakly, thinking of his own home life. "Maybe my mom could learn some lessons from yours." He chuckled at the thought of his stubborn mother, learning anything from another mother.

Alfred chuckled as well. "That's funny, but I think my mom would be like, the worst teacher ever."

Kiku just smiled and stretched his legs out in the seat. It was cool to have so much room to sit in, not to mention Kiku had never been on a real American bus before. He'd only really seen them in movies. He took a moment to awe at everything around him, seeing the worn, green leather on the seats, the high metallic ceilings, and various signs around. Windows clouded over next to him. A surge of disappointment hit him. It was just a regular bus. Kiku didn't know why he'd been excited at all, the only difference he could consciously think of was that it was colder than a regular bus because there was no heat. He frowned, this was not like the movies. Alfred leaned over and took his ipod out.

"Wanna listen?"

Kiku blinked as Alfred handed him one of his headphones. "S-Sure…" Kiku hesitantly put the headphone in as Alfred began to play some music. "What kind of music on here?" Kiku asked, as a rock song came on loudly into the headphone, Kiku jumped but Alfred didn't notice.

"Ah I got all kinds, country, classic, rock, techno, pop you name it I got it!"

"Wow so you really _do _listen to everything then."

"You got that right! How about you what do you listen to?"

Kiku shrugged "mostly Japanese stuff, I like Asian Kung-Fu Generation, but they're not really _that _popular in Japan. I'm kind of a nerd because I watch anime and stuff, but I don't limit myself to it."

"You like anime? I've seen a few!"

Kiku nodded "Like I said, it's not my life though."

"Gotta have a balance, bro."

Kiku smiled. "I agree"

The rest of the bus ride was fairly quiet. Occasionally Alfred would point out the window and explain something that he thought Kiku might find interesting, which he usually did. America had a lot of things that Japan didn't have, so when Alfred explained something Kiku was happy to listen and glad to have acquired new knowledge. It was always good to get to know one's surroundings. Though it was long, Kiku found he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself. He breathed the fresh air as he stepped from the bus in a fairly suburban neighborhood. White, grey, and brick houses decorated each sidewalk. Each was large, and had a long driveway. Kiku awed at the sight of it- all the grass was mowed and almost every house had a garden.

"The grass… Why did they cut it?" Kiku turned to Alfred and asked him.

"Eh?" Alfred scratched the back of his head. "Oh, well… We always cut it, don't you?"

"No… Actually, in Japan we usually do not."

Alfred laughed "Oh, that's kinda weird…!"

"Well, I think it's weird that you _cut _yours!"

Alfred scoffed. "Let's just get to my place. I'm starving!"

"When are you not hungry?" Kiku chuckled and followed Alfred down the block. "Is it a long walk to your house?"

"No, not at all! Actually, I'm just the third house from this one…" Alfred grinned and pointed to it. "See? It's the big grey and brick one."

"Wow," Kiku commented. "It's…really big!"

"Nah, it's just like the rest of the houses around here right?"

Kiku looked around, now really looking at the size of the other houses, then making a point to compare it to Alfred's house. "Well…I guess you're right." But he realized that he had stopped walking and was talking to no one. Alfred kept going ahead and was about two houses ahead of Kiku. It was almost as if he hadn't realized that Kiku had left his side.

Suddenly he stopped and turned around. "Hey!" he waved. "Catch up! Or I might just not let you in!"

Kiku frowned, then when he realized when Alfred was joking he smirked and quickly ran to catch up to him, though Alfred ran ahead. By the time Kiku caught up to him on Alfred's front stoop he'd lost quite a bit of his breath. He pounded his chest a bit and breathed heavily.

"You know if you were Arthur you would have called me 'asshole' back there…" Alfred looked down at Kiku. "Woah, man. Someone's really out of shape."

Kiku smiled wearily and straightened up. "If I was Arthur what would I have said to you after _that _comment?"

Alfred smirked. "Fuck off"

Kiku raised his eyebrows. "Fuck off, then…!"

Alfred looked surprised for a moment, but then burst out laughing. "Dude, you're so funny! Somehow it doesn't come off the same when you say it."

Kiku blushed a little. "Is that good or bad…?"

Alfred froze for a moment. "I don't know…"

Kiku shook his head. "It's against my better judgment to say something so rude, but, don't you think we have better things to do than talk about your ex-boyfriend?"

Alfred frowned. "Well… He's my friend now."

Kiku sighed. "Yes, but- actually, never mind. Just forget I said anything. Weren't you hungry?"

Alfred pursed his lips. "No, what were you going to say?"

Kiku rocked back on his feet, feeling that he should have just held his tongue. He'd really just wanted to fit in, but really in Japan he never would have allowed himself to say such a thing. "Well… um… It just didn't really sound like in that context you were referring to _friend _Arthur but, more like _boyfriend _Arthur…"

Alfred looked away from him for a moment, almost seeming ashamed. He looked like he was thinking about his answer. First he looked to the left, then down, and then to the right. Finally he looked Kiku directly in the eye. "Arthur and I are not together anymore."

"Yes, I know that."

"And I wasn't referring to when we were together. I don't really- well I mean- he doesn't really like to talk about those days so I don't."

I-I understand, and I sincerely apologize." Kiku said, with a slight bow, it's not my business to get into such affairs.

"No, it's not. That was the past, and we will _never _be like that with one another again. I want you to understand that Kiku. Do you?"

Kiku nodded very quickly. "Y-yes I do!"

Alfred's expression relaxed a bit, but his scary demeanor didn't really go away. "Okay, you had better…"

Alfred took out his key and unlocked the door. "Isn't your mom home?" Kiku asked, trying to bring lightheartedness back into context. He remembered that Alfred had asked a similar question, perhaps the very same one, when Kiku had brought him to his house.

A slight, very slight, smile played on Alfred's lips. "Yes she is as a matter of fact. But I just have a house key like any normal boy."

"Well, you asked me the same question when I pulled my key out."

"I must have just been looking for something to say then."

Kiku smirked. "You're full of shit."

Alfred smiled a bit. "Shut up and get in my house!" He quickly shoved Kiku in who laughed, though relieved that Alfred was being his usual friendly self with him again.

"What do I do with my shoes?" he asked as Alfred dropped his school bag onto the floor and threw his jacket onto the floor.

"Alfred. F. Jones don't you tell me the sound I just heard was your jacket hitting the floor again!" sounded a woman's voice from the kitchen. Something was cooking and Kiku figured it must be dinner. Whatever it was, though, it smelled really good.

"Aw, mom I;ve got a friend over. Besides it's just a jacket."

"Friend or no friend I don't want to see that thing on the floor."

"But maaaa!"

"I will throw it away…! Pick it up!"

"Fiiinneeee" Alfred whined and picked it up and put it away in the coat closet. He looked at Kiku who was holding back snickers. "What were you saying about shoes?"

"Oh," Kiku looked down at his feet. "I was wondering if I should take them off or keep them on."

"Well you're spending the night right? So why don't you take them off."

"Alright." Kiku gently took his shoes off and lined them up by the door. Alfred haphazardly took his own off and threw them at the door.

A woman with blonde hair the same color as Alfred's and bright green eyes walked in. This, Kiku thought, must be Alfred's mother. He must've gotten his blue eyes from his dad though, because this woman's were as green as an evergreen tree in the middle of spring. "Hello" she said, and wiped her hands off with the towel in her hands. She quickly stuck it down her apron and extended her hand out to Kiku. He hesitantly took it and she shook it. "I'm Alfred's mother, you can call me Mrs. Jones. You must be…Kiku?"

"Yes, that's me!"

She grinned. "Oh, then I've heard a lot about you…"

Alfred whined in the background, "Mom, don't embarrass me!"

Mrs. Jones rolled her eyes, and went to glance over at him. Though instead her eyes caught his shoes which were still sloppily thrown by the door. She dropped Kiku's hand and went over to them. "Now really, Alfie, what kind of person takes their shoes off like this?"

"I do!" He said and began to march around as his mother fixed them.

"My son, the sloppiest boy on earth, how on earth are you going to get married like this?"

Alfred huffed "I'll figure something out."

"And look at this, look at how nicely Kiku put his shoes here!" She set Alfred's shoes down next to Kiku's. "You could learn a thing or two from him you know."

Alfred scoffed. "Whatever."

Kiku blushed a little bit but didn't say much. Really his thoughts were on the fact that Alfred's mother had known about him. That meant that Alfred had talked about him when he came home from school. He was really happy after finding such a fact out. He looked at Alfred and scooted over to him. "Didn't you say you were hungry?"

Alfred grunted, "I am hungry. Mom do we have any snacks?"

"Snacks? Oh yes, I prepared a whole bunch of things for you boys since I knew you were having a friend over tonight, " Mrs. Jones said as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Alright!" Alfred said as he pumped an arm into the air.

"Alfie, why don't you show Kiku up to your bedroom and I'll bring the snacks up."

"Okay." Alfred looked at Kiku and grinned. "It's right upstairs. I hope you don't mind sharing a bed! We haven't got an air one and well… You don't want to sleep on the floor, do you?"

Kiku couldn't hide his grin. "That's fine, often in Asia families share beds to save space, so it's not something I'm unfamiliar with."

"Cool!" Alfred turned when he got to the top of the stairs and began to walk down a large hallway. Kiku followed him quickly with his knapsack that had all his things in it. He'd sort of rushed this morning throwing everything in there along with his other school books. Normally he'd bring a separate bag but he was already getting enough hate at school. He didn't need any of the antagonists trying to take it from him. Alfred opened the last door to the right at the end of the hallway. "The bathroom is the door right across from here."

Kiku looked behind him as he entered Alfred's room. "Ah, okay. Thank you, I'll remember that."

"What movies did you bring?" Alfred laid down on his bed and Kiku finally really entered his bedroom. He looked around it and couldn't help but grin. The walls were sort of a rich blue, and tilted up in some areas that ultimately led to a skylight. There were posters on the walls, mostly of Superman and a whole bunch of bands Alfred liked. There was a cowboy hat on his dresser, as well as a plastic fireman's cap from when he was little. There was an assortment of action figures on a shelf way up high that also seemed to be stacked with comic books. There was a lamp, some porn magazines poorly hidden, and various other trinkets that clued Kiku in to Alfred's interests. On the wall facing the bed was a television and dvd player. Alfred's bed was neatly made, though the clothing had been carelessly thrown by an old laundry basket. Kiku figured that Alfred's mother must've made him tidy up before Kiku arrived, but had made Alfred's bed.

"I brought the two we decided on at my house. You know, the ones with subtitles?"

"Oh yeah! I'm excited to see them tonight!"

"Yeah, me too." Kiku set his knapsack on the floor by the edge of the bed and pulled them out.

Alfred snatched them from his hands and looked at the title. "What does it say?"

Kiku looked over his shoulder to read the bold Japanese that the two titles were written in. "Well, the top one says 'The Bloody Card' and the second one says 'Whatever happened to Miss Mami?'"

"Oh, creepy sounding." Alfred said, and got up to put them by the DVD player.

"We'll save those for the evening."

Mrs. Jones came upstairs and had her hands full of plates and bags. "Okay, boys, here are your snacks for the night. I hope you enjoy them."

Kiku quickly came over and helped her carry the things to the bed, Alfred, when he saw Kiku helping also helped his mother carry some things over to the bed. "Wow, thanks mom. This all looks really good."

"Yeah, it does. Thanks Mrs. Jones"

"Oh, boys like everything," Mrs. Jones said bashfully.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "That's not true…"

Mrs. Jones smiled tiredly as if she'd had this conversation with Alfred a few times. "Just don't make a mess or get any food on the bed."

"Okay mom, we won't." Alfred said as he pushed her out of his room kindly.

"A-And stack up all the garbage in one spot! I don't want to come in tomorrow to find trash everywhere!"

"You won't, mom!" Alfred said. "Thank you!"He quickly pushed her the rest of the way out and shut the door. "Let's eat!"

The rest of the night commenced, Kiku having a very fun time. He and Alfred ended up getting into a bit of a food fight in his bedroom, which they had to clean up frantically when they thought they heard his mother coming upstairs to check on them. They played video games as Alfred revealed he also had a PSP in his room. Around six o'clock, Alfred's father came home. He was tall and muscular just like Alfred was, his piercing blue eyes had proven Kiku's theory right about where Alfred got his from. The ex-military man had brown hair that was shaven very close to his head. Kiku was glad Alfred didn't cut his hair like his father though, he liked it better longer and shaggier as it was now. Alfred's dad had given Alfred a bit of a hard time about all the junk food he had eaten, but Alfred had just brushed it off knowing that he'd be exercising later anyway.

At dinner the whole family ate together. Alfred's mother had cooked corned beef, with carrots and mashed potatoes. Kiku had never had it before but had thought it was delicious. Alfred and his father both had second helpings, which was no surprise to Kiku. Though he knew that Alfred would stay in shape, not only because he was a little self-centered but because Alfred's father seemed like a pretty tough guy when it came to those matters. In other words, Kiku didn't worry about Alfred's amount of food consumption because of his great build. When dinner was over Kiku helped Mrs. Jones clean up while Alfred and his dad talked about the latest sports. Afterwards Kiku and Alfred went back up into Alfred's room to watch the movies. Kiku hadn't been scared in the least bit, whereas Alfred had been trembling for almost all of the two movies. He constantly yelped or grabbed on to Kiku when he thought something scary was about to happen, or when something did happen. Kiku didn't mind one bit and really thought Alfred was being cute. He did constantly put up such a macho attitude at school- now to see him reduced to so little from two movies was really adorable to Kiku. When the movies were over and the boys got ready for bed, Kiku had made it a point to ask Alfred if he'd been scared. To which Alfred replied no, he'd not been scared, though when both the boys climbed in bed together Alfred was awfully close to Kiku and jumped and screamed when the cat got on the bed. Kiku chuckled and had to calm him down, once again asking Alfred if he was sure he hadn't been scared. To which Alfred once again replied with the fact that no, he was _not _scared because he was a hero and heroes don't get scared.

Kiku would only smile and say okay even if he knew Alfred was terrified. And even if he wouldn't admit it, he wouldn't let go of Kiku as he fell asleep that night. Both boys fell asleep in one another's arms. Sure, it was odd for two boys to be doing such a thing- it wasn't like boys, especially American boys to sleep in beds with one another. Let alone clinging to one another, but to them it seemed natural. Neither boy had gotten such a peaceful night sleep in their lives.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! I just want to say thank you for the wonderful comments and reviews right off the bat! I really appreciate it and I'm happy to hear you like it! I wan't to apologize for the Japanese in this chapter. I had to use google translate because I take German. Other than that I hope you enjoyed it and I'll post another one next Sunday. Have a nice week! <strong>


	3. Chapter 3 I'm Not A Girl

CHAPTER 3: I'M NOT A GIRL

Kiku grunted and kicked the wall behind him. It had been four weeks since auditions, and on the second Wednesday there had been callbacks. Kiku had been angry because Alfred had been called back for, of course, one of the valiant knights. Yet at the same time Kiku had been called back for one of the damsels in distress. He'd whined and complained about it to some of his friends back in Japan, and they laughed at him. He'd never been all that close to them anyway; they were just the only friends he had while he was there. So, in a way he did feel somewhat close to them, on a level where they were the only people he ever saw or talked to really. He'd called Yao who was in China now, that made him feel a little better. Yao had done a pretty good job of calming him down. Saying that he was sure it was just a "misunderstanding" and that at the callbacks his teacher was sure to realize that Kiku was a boy when he changed into his dancing clothes of shorts and a tank top. Kiku scowled. That did a lot of good. Now he wasn't sure if Mr. Densen was just trying to screw Kiku over because he liked to or if he'd really convinced himself in his mind that Kiku was, indeed, a person of the female gender.

Mr. Densen had made the final cast. He'd went ahead and cast him in the play as the damsel in distress. And Alfred as one of the brave knights. _That _damsel in distress that just happened to kiss _that _brave night actually. He wasn't sure what kind of sick game Mr. Densen was playing but he didn't want to play anymore. Maybe Mr. Densen got some strange enjoyment out of watching two boys kiss. Or maybe he really _did _think Kiku was a girl. Though that was highly unlikely at this point.

Kiku sighed. He really didn't want to complain about it to Alfred, Francis, or Arthur. It didn't make sense to complain about it to them, in Japan it wasn't customary to complain to people you hardly knew. But it didn't matter since Kiku was in America now. Either way he felt uncomfortable complaining to people he didn't know that well. Though in some ways that was a bit of an understatement. Kiku had been spending quite a bit of time with the bunch of them. Maybe he just wanted to uphold some dignity around them for whatever reason.

Arthur and Francis had taken him out a few times to show him places in town. Though most of the time Kiku had felt like a third wheel. He felt more and more that they were getting worse and worse hiding their relationship to the world every time they went out. Of course Kiku wasn't really supposed to know about it. It was, however, very obvious to him though. He hung around with them enough, whether it be at school or not. Maybe it was just becoming more recognizable to him because he was hanging out with the two of them so much. He thought about the last time he was with them. They'd taken him to some book store to show Kiku where he might be able to get some books if he wanted to improve his English. It started out as a nice gesture. Kiku suspected it was mostly Francis' idea. He thought most of the ideas were probably Francis's, though on the other hand Francis probably wanted to spend more alone time with Arthur than Arthur wanted to spend with Francis, so maybe it had been Arthur who kept inviting Kiku along. Either way, Kiku would never know. They were in the book store, and of course Francis had begun to harass Arthur first- it was hardly ever the other way around. Kiku thought back on the memory.

_"__Arthur, I have an idea for a game we can play."_

_"__I'm not interested in any of your stupid games, Frog."_

_"__Why not, Arthur~? This could be fun…"_

_"__No! Get away from me." Kiku had been in the next bookshelf over, and he was able to hear everything. He assumed Francis had been hanging on Arthur before. Francis seemed to be hanging around a lot. If that was the word to explain how he was all the time. Kiku wondered if you can explain someone as hanging when they were just really standing, but Francis did it all right. He was loose, lean, and carefree-seeming._

_"__Oh, don't be such a black sheep! You never want to do anything fun. I bet you don't want to play because you know you'd lose."_

_"__Number one, don't call me such an absurd name! Number two, I don't even know what the game _is _so how would I know if I could lose or not? And number three, I _never_ lose! Especially one against someone with such a small brain as you!"_

_"__So then play and prove that to be right!"_

_"__What's in it for me if I _do_ play?"_

_"__Mmm quite a few things…" Francis laughed, and then the talking got quiet._

_Kiku couldn't help but lean over the other shelf and peek at the two of them. Francis was whispering in Arthur's ear. He was grinning and had a sly, lusty look in his eyes. A look Kiku was familiar with by that time._

_Arthur's face was turning red, and it kept getting redder. He finally pushed Francis away. "Fuckfuckfuck okay, if it really means th-that much to you we'll play!"_

_Francis smirked "Really?"_

_"__Yes, really! Just get on with it. What's the game?"_

_Francis grinned, almost evilly. Kiku decided to sneak back away into the bookshelf he was currently in. He didn't want either of them to know that he'd been listening in, let alone spying, Though he started listening again almost immediately. He was ashamed, but he couldn't help himself. This was human nature wasn't it? They thought he was just looking at books and that he couldn't hear them at all._

_"__The game…" Francis said. You could hear the excitement in his voice. "Is to go to the love section in the store, flip to a random page in a book, and read the dirtiest thing on the page. We keep doing this until we find the dirtiest thing and can't play anymore."_

_"__Where the bloody hell did you get that idea?!"_

_"__The internet"_

_Arthur grumbled. "The internet. Of course the internet. Where else would you find such a preposterous idea…"_

_"__Arthur…"_

_Arthur sighed heavily. "It's ridiculous!"_

_"__You already agreed to play!"_

_"__Fuck…I can't believe you talked me into this _Frog_"_

_"__Honhonhon, I have the feeling I'm not going to regret this."_

Kiku didn't really want to remember the rest. He stopped his memory there. He had heard the rest of the conversation and he had heard the readings from the books. It had left quite a scar on his memory. By the end of it Arthur had been blushing quite profusely, Francis just had a smug look on his face.

Kiku didn't want to think of it anymore. Nothing having to do with Arthur and Francis anyway. He sighed. He was tired of being a third wheel for them anyway. He felt like such a girl. He always felt like a girl, he was always asked to do those girly things. He was always looking at boys and…well he just didn't feel like one! "Boys should look at girls and girls should look at boys." He told himself and dropped his head in his arms. That thing he'd been told since he was a kid growing up, why did he have to be different? Kiku couldn't help his feelings though…He slid back down on the brick wall and thumped his head against it a few times. _Why, why, why _had things turned out the way they did? Kiku usually liked himself just fine but seeing that he was cast that way in the play, and now looking back on things he groaned. Where was Alfred? He was supposed to come pick Kiku up fifteen minutes ago. Today just wasn't Kiku's day. He thought of Alfred, who was supposed to be here, Alfred who he'd been spending so much time with these past two weeks, and Alfred who he probably wouldn't ever get to see again after he saw the audition results. He knew he'd be kissing Kiku, he'd be disgusted and he'd walk away. Sure he liked guys like Kiku did but that surely didn't mean he liked Kiku… They had been spending an awful lot of time together though. Kiku enjoyed it though. He enjoyed it a lot.

Last time they went out Alfred took him out for burgers, Kiku thought back on the memory fondly. He liked to pretend it had been a date even if it wasn't.

**_"_****_Soda, Soda Burgers_**_?" Kiku had asked, reading the sign on the shop._

_"__Yep!" Alfred put his hands on his hips and grinned. "It's the best place in town!"_

_Kiku blinked. They lived in New York, _New York_! He almost couldn't believe this was the best place in town._

_"__I know what you're thinking." Alfred said, and turned back to the front of the neon pink sign. "Why did I drag you through the city only to bring you to this pretty run down looking joint, eh?"_

_Kiku pursed his lips. "Well…"_

_Alfred just laughed "Trust me! Burgers are my favorite, I wouldn't lead you astray…I've eaten at probably every burger joint in town but I just keep coming back to this one."_

_Kiku remained silent, he didn't really know what to say. That was what Kiku had been thinking and he was wondering how Alfred had read him so well._

_It had ended with Alfred dragging him into the place and seating them at a red booth. The place had obviously not been updated since, like, 1956. It seemed like Alfred's era anyway, he did look like the _**Coca Cola **_sponsor boy after all. Kiku remembered every detail as if it were yesterday. Well he remembered any detail with Alfred as if it were yesterday, though he had to say this recent memory of him served to be one of his favorites._

_The floor had a black and white checkered pattern, though there were a few stains. The booths were all done up with this old red leather, it cracked in some places, some booths even had large pieces of leather ripped off of them so you could see the stuffing underneath. Kiku had scrunched his nose up at this. The seats were rimmed with silver metal, and each table was polished down to the best it could be. They were wood tables, that were painted a bright baby blue, or what was baby blue at the time. Now most of the color had faded, and like the booths were cracked and had the metal lining. There wasn't any jukebox on the end of the table like Kiku thought there would be, instead a menu sat there that was being held up by ketchup and mustard bottles. There was a jukebox in the corner of the restaurant, as well as some pictures of Elvis, a few cars, and a lit up clock. The soda counter matched the table, and the bar seats matched the booth seats. There were all sorts of weird machines behind the counter, Kiku hadn't really known what they were for anyway._

_Kiku and Alfred were practically the only ones in the restaurant save a few others, though one couple seemed to be really old and Kiku figured that they really must've been coming here since the 50s. They were sharing a malt and laughing about something, Kiku thought it was sweet that they could still be so young at heart. Alfred was sitting across from Kiku, swinging his legs around a little, looking for a waiter. Kiku pulled the menu out from behind the bottles._

_"__Dude don't worry about it." Alfred had said. "I know what's good here! Let me order for you this time, so that way I know your first experience is gonna be a great one!" He grinned and Kiku put the dusty menu back._

_"__Um okay" Kiku has said. "As long as you know what you're doing."_

_If Alfred's grin could have gotten bigger in that moment, it did. "Are you kidding? I know everything about this place. I used to work here you know, on weekends, but then football started and I had to quit."_

_Kiku had smirked, the thought of Alfred holding down a job, especially one in a diner was funny, cute, and almost hard to imagine for Kiku. Though before he'd had the time to say anything, an older man came up to the table wearing a whole lot of white, as Kiku remembered it, with a note-pad and a grin._

_"__Hey Al! How ya been? Shall I get the usual for ya?"_

_Alfred beamed "Hey Yael! Yes one usual for me, and get my friend over here a root-beer and a deluxe please!"_

_"__Great!" the man Yael boomed and winked at the two boys "I'll have it right out for you two in a jiff!" He walked away into the kitchen with a long step._

_Kiku looked back at Alfred, who smiled at him._

_The burgers had been good, really good actually. Alfred wasn't joking when he said he knew burger places. Kiku hadn't even liked burgers that much until he went there. He had questioned afterward whether it was really the place that made the burger, or Alfred. Maybe it was both._

Kiku checked his watch, it had been thirty minutes now, Alfred was thirty minutes late. He wondered if he had forgotten. Kiku kicked his backpack and rested his head against the wall. Why did it have to be Alfred anyway? All the girls liked him- another way in which Kiku realized he was like a girl. Alfred the football player, the guy who would probably never look twice at the scrawny Japanese boy, Alfred who would probably fall in love with another football player like himself, or someone on his own level of handsome, Alfred who had left Kiku out waiting for him after school, when it had begun to rain. Kiku moved himself further under the cover to save himself from getting wet. He wished that he'd brought a warmer jacket. Instead, he was wearing a thinner green one, it was long but not very warm. Fall really had begun in New York. It was October now and Kiku should have dressed smarter. He normally did but, he'd been trying to look nice this time so that Alfred might notice him; instead Alfred had forgotten him.

Since football season had started Kiku had also started attending Alfred's games. Alfred only asked him to come to the first one but almost expected him at every other after that. Kiku always made a point to go too. He'd never miss a football game on Alfred's account, besides it was a bit of a treat for him anyway. He not only felt that it was an opportunity to learn about American culture and games, but he also got to watch the players in their uniforms. Running up and down the field, sweating, muscles pulsing. Specifically one player, specifically Alfred. Alfred was never as good as he said he was, but he was a good player. He was not the worst on the team but he wasn't the best. Surely he was quite valuable to the game. Kiku thought he brought something to the field that other players didn't. He couldn't figure out what it was though. Maybe it was charisma, or the excitement he brought for each game. Whatever it was it made Alfred's game look better than it was.

Sometimes Arthur and Francis came too. Kiku liked it when they came because then he could be by people he knew. Normally he'd try to stand off on the side, yet in an area where he knew Alfred could see him. Alfred always saw him too, Kiku thought it might've been because he always made an effort to wave or say hello when Alfred was on the bench. Alfred usually acknowledged him though hardly ever waved back. Arthur and Francis were good to stand by, but they still bickered quite a bit. Kiku had gotten fairly good at drowning them out now. The last fight was practically impossible to mute though. It had been about how the game was played. Of course it was over how the game was played. After the first game Kiku had made sure to get a run down from Alfred because he'd been thoroughly confused. He knew how it worked. Arthur and Francis were another story. That fight lasted the _whole game. _Even if Kiku had wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to get a word in. Afterward Kiku had a pretty bad headache and though they offered to take him home, he ended up walking home by himself in the quiet. Sometimes when Arthur and Francis came they disappeared for a while. Kiku didn't want to think about where they might be going off to, and he was sure he didn't want to know either. Mostly he just pretended it wasn't happening and he'd move down to the sideline where he usually stood until they came back.

"Hey look it's the Jap!" Someone shouted ripping Kiku out of his thoughts. He hadn't noticed the group of boys approaching him. They were large, muscular boys. The same group who usually only called him names or shot spitballs at him. Though this time Kiku had a feeling in his gut that it wouldn't be the same.

He froze. He couldn't bring himself to move. Even though he used to be a fighter he knew that he couldn't take on such a large group.

They loomed over him, it would have been more daunting had they been able to cast a shadow but the lack of sun helped that. Kiku tried to look strong, as if he wasn't afraid. He tightened his lip and looked one of them right in the eye. "What do you want?" damn his mouth, he couldn't control it at times like this.

"Oh so he can speak English, what else can you do _Jap?"_

Kiku scowled and looked away, he would hold his tongue this time. _Just ignore them _he thought. _They might walk away._

They stayed, of course they stayed. They started kicking him lightly, laughing. He looked down and continued to hold his tongue. As they began to jeer him. "Hey China-man, who don't you get up and sacrifice yourself like in the war?"

"Yeah where's your pride, you Kamikaze?"

Idiots, did they even know that Japan, China, and Korea were separate places? Kiku didn't think so. He was surprised they knew the word Kamikaze. But he didn't really have time to think about that, the harassing was getting worse. The kicking was getting harder, and it was starting to hurt now.

He winced. That was his mistake. One hit in a bad spot and smiles decorated their faces. The taunting stopped, everything froze for about half of a second. Then it was like they all had the same idea, the same mind in that moment. It was incredible really how they all managed to get a part of Kiku's body. Two of them began kicking harder, a lot harder than before. The other one stood and watched, spitting on Kiku when he deemed appropriate. He smirked, and added his own swift kicks when he wanted to. His were the hardest.

Kiku still held his tongue. He tried his hardest to only focus on the black behind his closed eyelids. The whole event lasted about five minutes, the boys did become bored after some time. They left Kiku gripping his stomach, and spitting some blood out of his mouth. He rolled over on to his back after a minute and opened his eyes. The sky was so grey. His body throbbed. He pushed himself out from the undercover so his face was in the rain. It almost felt good on his tender skin and forming bruises. He laid there and thought about why such a thing would be happening to him. What he had done to deserve such luck? He didn't want to look at the grey sky anymore, it reminded him to much of his life. Kiku closed his eyes.

"Kiku!" Someone jerked him out of his own thoughts. He opened his eyes and craned his head. It was Elizabeta and Gilbert. Though Elizabeta had said his name, Gilbert was close behind. He'd seen them around school more than once after he got to know them on audition day. Turned out he had the same lunch as them and they now sat at his table with Arthur, Francis, Alfred and he. He could consider them good acquaintances since audition day, they never came to the football games and he never saw them outside of school. They approached him and stood over him, blocking out the little light that came from the grey clouds. It was raining hard now.

"What are you doing here? School ended forty minutes ago." Elizabeta looked like she took pity on him. They approached him and saw his scrapes and bruises. "Oh my god! What happened to you?!"

Kiku ignored the question, he didn't feel like answering. He looked at his watch, it had been forty minutes past. Alfred had never showed. He was almost too embarrassed to say that he had been waiting for Alfred but he ended up changing his mind because he had no reason to try and maintain appearances around them. They already knew he was a girl in the school play, he was laying in the pavement obviously he'd been beat up, how could things get worse for his reputation now? Besides they didn't seem like the blabbing type, even Gilbert. "I was waiting for Alfred…"

"Alfred?" Gilbert asked and looked at Elizabeta who looked just as confused as Gilbert did.

"Didn't you hear?" They didn't press about Kiku's injuries.

"Hear what?"

"Alfred got sent home early today." Elizabeta pursed her lips. "Didn't he tell you he wouldn't be able to meet you?"

So he hadn't forgotten Kiku. Though the news shocked him, he stood up. "What? No, I mean, I don't think so…I- my phone died in school today so I never knew." Kiku shook his head. "What happened?"

Gilbert laughed "Kesesese awesome bastard got himself in a bit of a fist fight."

"A fight? Why?"

Elizabeta rocked back on her feet. "He saw the casting list, another boy saw it, an Iranian boy. Alfred and him never really got along that well…When he saw the posting…well he was familiar with the show. A lot of people are of course, but well he saw that he was kissing another boy. He started teasing Alfred, calling him gay and Alfred tried to deny it…things got out of control."

Kiku looked down. "I had no idea how many issues this would cause…What was the boy's name?"

"Nastaran"

Kiku was silent. He didn't know what to say and he didn't know what to do. Well, that was a lie. He knew he was going to Alfred's. He didn't know where he was going from there but he just knew he had to see him. On Monday they had been given the scripts, all the kids in drama class had been cast. How typical. Maybe Alfred and Kiku could change it somehow, because as badly as Kiku wanted to kiss Alfred…he didn't know what kinds of things this could lead to. They would talk to Mr. Densen when they got things right. This had to work, Kiku thought, it _had to._

"Do you have a ride home?" Gilbert asked, showing real kindness for the first time that Kiku had seen outwardly. Kiku shook his head. He didn't have a ride home, he'd been relying on Alfred. Gilbert scratched his neck awkwardly. "I guess I could take you then."

"Really Gil?" Elizabeta looked at him surprised. "That's very… stout of you."

"Well I can't just leave the kid I me- wait…stout…what does stout mean? Tell me in German Lizzy."

Elizabeta smirked "_tapfer_"

"_Tapfer? Wirklich? Du denkst, ich bin tapfer? Oh ja ! Freund Punkte! Ich muss das öfter machen!_" (stout? really? You think i'm stout? Oh yes! Boyfriend points! I'll have to do this more often!) Gil grinned cheekily.

"Switch back to English, yes I do" she said

"Ooh awesome!" He smiled at Kiku. "You're coming right?"

Kiku nodded and picked up his bag. "But don't take me to my house."

"Oh?" Gil started walking. He grabbed Elizabeta's hand and looked back, Kiku followed him. "Where to then?"

"Take me to Alfred's house. I need to talk to him."

* * *

><p><strong>Hello! Sorry this got posted so late, I was in Canada the whole morning. I planned on posting it at 7 am before I left but apparently I need to code in the line breaks now so that didn't happen haha. Anyway sorry this chapter is so short! I promise the next one will be a lot longer. I hope you like it and I'll post another next week!<br>Have a good week**

**M.O. **


	4. Chapter 4 Let's Run Lines

Chapter 4: Let's Run Lines

Kiku knocked on Alfred's front door, he looked back at Gilbert's red truck. He and Elizabeta were sitting in the front seat. They were waiting to make sure Kiku got in safely. Kiku waved at them as he stood on Alfred's stoop and tried to keep himself warm. Both of them waved back, Gilbert laughed and Elizabeta elbowed him, and then he looked hurt. Though he didn't look really hurt, more like he was acting. Kiku kept watching them, he had nothing better to do while he waited for someone in Alfred's family to answer the door. Gilbert took Elizabeta's hand and started kissing up her arm, she laughed and tried to swat him away though he was saying something and kept kissing up her arm. She continued to laugh and brush him off until finally she did give in and kiss him. They fought a lot, like Arthur and Francis, (well not _that_ much) but they had something special. Arthur and Francis had something special too. You could see it in their eyes. The door opened. Kiku turned around.

Alfred's mother stood at the door, her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Alfred's was only a little lighter and more golden. Kiku heard Gilbert drive away. Now he was really here, he couldn't change his mind. Alfred's mother smiled at him, but it wasn't a warm smile; it was that kind of smile people made when they felt sorry for you. Kiku's stomach was in knots. He took a deep breath and tried to speak, but before he could Mrs. Jones's smile dropped. "Kiku, oh my goodness what happened to you?" She frowned more and stepped outside to look at him.

Kiku remained silent.

She continued. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to pick you up. I should have come, you got hurt. I've been on the phone with Alfred's father all day trying to calm him down. He doesn't like it when little Alfie gets into fights with other kids but I don't want him to be punished for defending himself. Here Kiku, come in. We should get you cleaned up." She opened the door wider and Kiku stepped in slowly. He held on to his backpack tightly and took his shoes off, sliding them into a corner neatly with his feet. Mrs. Jones kept talking.

"You heard about the fight I'm guessing? You weren't involved were you?" She turned to Kiku and he shook his head, still unsure as to what he wanted to say.

"Thank goodness, it was awful what happened, but I'm glad that's not how you got hurt. Such a shame isn't it? I know Alfred said he'd tried to contact you but you never texted him back." She walked into the kitchen, Kiku continued to stand awkwardly in the hallway. She looked up at him. "Come on into the kitchen and sit down for a bit, Alfred is taking a nap upstairs I'm sure he'll be down soon. For now we can clean and bandage some of that."

Kiku nodded again and walked into the kitchen, He slid his backpack off of his shoulders and sat awkwardly in one of the wooden chairs. Mrs. Jones set down a plate of cookies by Kiku. Before he could take one, she came over with a small first aid kit. Kiku didn't really know what to say. She quickly cleaned and bandaged up his injuries. Afterwards she pushed the plate of cookies toward him.

He bowed deeply "Thank you very much, that was too kind of you."

He took a cookie hesitantly. Kiku spoke again. "Sorry I didn't text Alfred back, my phone died during school."

"Oh no, I wish I had known I would have come right down and picked you up."

"It's okay" Kiku smiled a little. Alfred's mother was really kind. His mother, it seemed, was never so warm. "I found a ride."

Mrs. Jones sighed and poured herself a hot cup of coffee. "What a hectic day, would you like a glass of milk?"

Kiku nodded, realizing just how thirsty he was. He hadn't had anything to drink since lunch.

"Yes ma'am, some milk sounds like it would be nice right now, if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh you're so polite. I wish Alfred was like that more often." She chuckled and opened the refrigerator, she took the carton of milk out and poured it into a green glass.

Mrs. Jones came around by the table and put his glass of milk by the plate of cookies, she sat across the table from Kiku with her coffee and smiled at him. He smiled back.

"So" She said and took a sip of her coffee. "What do you know about the fight?"

Kiku blinked. "I'm sorry ma'am but I don't really know what kind of a question that is. Didn't Alfred tell you?"

She sighed. "Yes, he did tell me, but I want to know how much _you _know. You and Alfred have been really close since school began and I heard about the casting as well…"

He could feel his face getting hot. "M-Ma'am-"

"Mrs. Jones…" she corrected him. "Ma'am just sounds a little too old for me."

Kiku cleared his throat. "Mrs. Jones, are you asking me if I think Alfred is gay or not?" His voice squeaked a little on the last word. Quickly he drank his milk. This conversation got uncomfortable very quickly for Kiku.

Mrs. Jones leaned forward. "Kiku, I'm not asking whether you think it or not, I'm asking you whether you _know _it or not."

Kiku pursed his lips. He didn't want to speak. Mrs. Jones was staring at him intently.

"If it makes you feel better…" She spoke. "I know the answer."

He breathed. He realized that he hadn't been doing that a few seconds ago. Something about the way she looked at him told him this woman wasn't lying. It wasn't a trick to find out whether her son was gay or not behind her back. She was truly asking Kiku, for his own good, so he wouldn't be uncomfortable during the kiss scene at the time of the show.

He still hesitated though, this conversation was still weird. It would never not be weird. Alfred's mother couldn't go and take everything she'd just said back now. He looked at the clock on the stove, maybe wishing that he hadn't come now. That he should have asked Gilbert to just drive him home. But he pushed those feelings down. He was here to talk to Alfred because he had to. He _needed _to. And if that meant suffering through one weird conversation with his mother so be it.

He finally spoke. "Yes. I know he's gay."

Mrs. Jones sighed with relief. He shoulders relaxed and she brought her coffee up to her lips. She didn't drink it though, she just let the steaming cup rest on her lips. Finally she spoke, a smile broke on her lips. "That saves me a conversation then."

Kiku looked down, he still didn't like the conversation and he still wanted it to be over, but Alfred's mother continued. "Alfred's father doesn't know."

Kiku raised his eyebrows, and looked up at her. He wasn't usually one for much gossip but he couldn't contain his curiosity on Alfred's father. "Oh?"

Mrs. Jones shook her head. "No, he can't know. Alfred's father was raised in a very…different home. He's a bit uncomfortable with such talk."

"I see." Kiku mumbled. He had the feeling that Mrs. Jones was still hiding something, but it wasn't his place to pry.

"You just need to keep it quiet. And if he asks about the role, tell him you've got a sister who got that role. It would save us a lot of grief."

Kiku swallowed and nodded, this topic was obviously touchy in Alfred's family. Kiku had never really talked to his parents about it, nothing was ever directly said anyway. Kiku felt like his parents knew though, they never said anything and neither did he. That's how it was in Kiku's family.

Alfred's mother didn't look like she wanted to say anymore. She glanced down for a second then leaned back in her chair, clutching her coffee tightly. Kiku wasn't sure if she'd ever taken a sip.

There was a soft padding down the stairs. "Mom? Did you make cookies? They smell good." Kiku heard Alfred say as he rounded the corner in socks and sweatpants. He had bruises on his arms and his cheek, his lip was cut a little, and so was his forehead. His arms had minor scrapes on them. The fight must've been pretty bad. As soon as Alfred saw Kiku his face brightened, but fell quickly. "Kiku, what happened to you? You look awful!"

Kiku smirked a bit. "You don't look all that well yourself."

Alfred laughed "Touché. Why are you here? I mean I'm not mad but I thought you'd just go home when you saw my texts."

Kiku shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He was surprised that it only had minor scrapes from the beating earlier. "My phone died during school, I never got your messages."

Alfred blinked "You let your phone die? That doesn't sound like the Kiku I know!"

He sighed. "I forgot to charge it last night because I was so nervous about seeing casting today."

Alfred's face fell when he heard the word "casting". He looked down and shuffled his feet, a slight blush spread across his face. Kiku thought this must be embarrassment. "Oh, the casting. Did you see it?"

Kiku pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

Alfred looked almost pained. His mother got up and started fiddling with the dishes in the sink. Slowly, Alfred spoke. "Well, what did you think?"

"I think we need to talk about this, Alfred." Kiku said as he clenched his jaw.

Alfred just nodded and glanced at his mother. "Let's go up to my room…"

_There will be more privacy there._

"Okay." Kiku grabbed his backpack and the plate of cookies, knowing Alfred wouldn't want to waste such a thing. He did come downstairs for the cookies after all.

Alfred nodded curtly and shoved his hands in his pockets. He quickly turned on his heel and started walking upstairs. Kiku followed him briskly. "Thank you very much Mrs. Jones…!" He said as he exited the kitchen. He couldn't look her in the eye, though.

"Anytime, Kiku. I'm glad I could help."

Alfred was already in his room by the time Kiku had made it up the stairs, he waved Kiku in and then shut the door quickly after Kiku had walked inside. Kiku put his backpack and the plate of cookies down. He sat down on Alfred's floor and leaned against the closet. Alfred sat across from him.

"You can sit on your own bed you know." Kiku said, frowning slightly.

"So can you."

"Yes but that feels so awkward, I'd rather have you be comfortable."

"The floor is fine."

"But the bed is finer."

"No way Kiku I'm staying here. Besides you're just avoiding conversation aren't you?"

Kiku frowned. "Not really."

Alfred just rolled his eyes. "Obviously we have a lot to talk about, like…well we both got in fights and the casting and stuff."

Kiku nodded. "Yeah, which do you want to start with?"

Alfred thought for a long moment. He leaned against his bench and scratched his chin.

Finally he spoke. "The fights; I don't think that's as big of a thing."

"Okay. How did yours start?"

Alfred sighed heavily. He ruffled his hair and then scrunched his face in his hands. "Nastaran saw the casting list…"

"Can you start by telling me who Nastaran is?"

"He used to be a really good friend of mine. I don't know though, we just grew apart. He started taking steroids and all that nonsense, we just eventually grew to not like each other anymore. I guess I'd be friends with him still if he wasn't so blocked off to the idea."

"I see"

"Well anyway, Nastaran saw the casting list. He knew who you were from some of the football games. Well he called me gay. Not only that but he called the both of us gay, started making a big scene. I couldn't let him be saying that sort of thing- so loudly especially! So I punched him, and it just got worse from there…" Alfred looked down and fiddled with his fingers. "Your turn."

Kiku's throat went dry a bit. "Oh you know just that same group of boys who usually pick on me in school. I guess since no one was around today they figured it might be a good day to actually beat me up." He didn't realize how sarcastic he'd been sounding until the sentence was finished.

Alfred looked surprised. "Kiku, you've been getting picked on?"

Kiku nodded "Well I was going to talk to that other foreign student about it. I think you might know him."

"Oh? Which one?" Alfred cocked his head like a puppy dog again.

"Ludwig"

"Oh him…yeah I don't know him very well. I heard he used to be really mean, very scary. I mean apparently you would have guessed that the guy came right out of Nazi Germany the way he used to go around."

To Kiku it just sounded almost the same as when he was younger. Maybe he would have more in common with Ludwig than he had originally thought. He smiled slightly. "I don't mind all that stuff, I'm sure we'll get along fine." Kiku was convinced that they might have been good friends as kids anyway. They might have been allies.

"Really? Man I feel like I should know more about your past." Alfred stretched.

Kiku could only chuckle "That's for another time I think, I don't like to talk about it much anyway."

Alfred frowned slightly. "Oh? Well I won't force you…Another time then."

"Another time" Kiku repeated.

Alfred cleared his throat. "So…the other problem."

Kiku pursed his lips. "I don't think it was ever the _other _problem…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well don't you think that the reason either of us got beaten up because of that casting?"

Alfred scowled. In all the weeks Kiku had known him, he'd never seen Alfred scowl. He hardly ever frowned. "I guess."

"You guess or you know?" Kiku wanted to prod him.

"I know" Alfred said and scowled more. "How could Mr. Densen do this to us? It's like…he had it in for us all along."

"Why can't the world be more accepting?"

"That's for sure."

"So what do you want to do?"

"About the scene? I have no idea…"

"Well…"

"Well what?" Alfred asked, he leaned in toward Kiku, though Kiku didn't know what Alfred wanted to hear.

"W-We could ask Mr. Densen to cut it."

"You mean, cut the scene? Right out of the play?"

Kiku nodded, it had been the only thing he was able to come up with.

"I guess we could, but I don't think that's very smart…" Alfred trailed off, he didn't look at

Kiku though. Instead he stared at his feet and wiggled his toes in his socks.

"What do you mean it's not smart? It's our only option."

"Not really…"

"Why, have you just thought of something?" Kiku pursed his lips. He wanted to know what Alfred had to say. What he really wanted out of the situation. In his heart Kiku knew it probably wasn't the same as he wanted but he wanted to hear it anyway.

"Well it's not exactly what I'd call a fresh idea."

"I don't understand."

"Don't make me spell it out man."

"I'm still not following."

Alfred licked his lips and leaned way forward he grabbed his feet and paused for a moment before turning his head and looking Kiku directly in the eye. "I mean…I mean we keep the scene the way it is."

Kiku's eyes widened "Are you joking with me?"

Alfred shook his head slowly. "I'm not. I mean what if that's what Mr. Densen wanted all along anyway? For us to come up to him asking to change the script? Then what would he do? Tell us the play was unchangeable under copyright purposes, then fail us because we wouldn't participate? No way, I want to graduate this year."

"What about the other kids? And the beatings?"

Alfred flung his hands up into the air. "Fuck them! They know what the pressure is like to graduate, we tell them that. It's the truth isn't it?"

"Well I mean-"

"Besides," Alfred cut Kiku off. "I-I didn't really want it to happen this way but I guess this is happening so I'm going along with it."

"Going along with what?" Kiku's heart was pounding, he could hear it in his head and feel it all over his body. He was nervous, and he had no idea what Alfred was about to say.

"Well, when I first saw the casting, I got excited because I thought I'd have an excuse to kiss you without having to tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"That I like you! Without having to tell you that I like you!" He huffed and rubbed his face with his hands. Kiku was speechless. All his dreaming had come true and now he had nothing to say. Alfred scrubbed his face. "I freaked you out didn't I?" He laughed weakly. "I knew it was silly to think you had the same feelings…"

"No it wasn't silly…"

"Then it was stupid." Alfred's face was getting red. "I'm embarrassed, let's just pretend I never said anything. We'll go along with your idea alright?"

"N-No! Alfred wait a minute, you haven't given me a chance to say anything."

"What can you say?"

Kiku was quiet for a moment. "I can say that I feel the same."

"That's a laugh!"

"No it's true! Really Alfred I was just shocked you felt that way too."

"I don't know if I believe you Kiku. I want to but… you were quiet for so long. I mean did you see the look on your face when I said what I did? It wasn't happy or angry it was like disgust."

"You're confusing disgust with surprise."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Then…prove it!"

"What? How?!"

"I don't know" Alfred scoffed and turned away from him, he was still so boyish sometimes. "That's for you to figure out and prove to me."

Kiku was frustrated. More frustrated than he'd been since he first came to America. He was sure that this was almost the most frustrating moment of his life. He liked Alfred _a lot _and now that he'd finally told him, young American didn't believe him. "Fine" He muttered and crawled over to his backpack.

Alfred turned around. "What are you doing?"

"Proving it to you." Kiku grunted and unzipped it harshly. "Get your script."

"What?"

"I said get your script out. Do you want me to prove it or not?" Kiku stopped and sat back on his heels, he put his hands in his lap and stared at Alfred.

Alfred pursed his lips and slowly went to his backpack. Kiku had hoped that he would scramble for it. That was how he imagined it anyway. That Alfred might jump and the chance and run to his backpack, excited to see what Kiku might do. But instead he just kind of slowly crawled over, and opened his backpack very deliberately. He lazily pulled his script out, well the motion was meant to look lazy but Kiku could see he was gripping it tightly. "Now what?" He spoke quietly.

Kiku took a deep breath and went back into his backpack. He fished his script out from the bottom, where he'd thrown it after the audition Monday. He faced Alfred and sat back on his heels again after finding it. He placed the script on his lap. "Let's practice."

"Practice what?"

Alfred was playing dumb. "You know very well what, the scene. Let's practice the scene."

Alfred's face started to turn red again. "Wh-What?"

"The scene, the kiss scene. I want to practice it. I want to kiss you Alfred."

"R-Right now?"

Kiku pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. He scooted closer to Alfred. "Right now."

Alfred licked his lips a little. He looked like he wanted to say something, but all he did was nod.

Kiku flipped to the scene in his script. Alfred followed him. Kiku was anxious, he stared at the lines on the page. He'd read over them maybe two or three times. He didn't know them very well, and he knew he might stumble on them. His mouth felt dry and his whole body tingled.

"You have the first line." Alfred said after a while.

"Oh yeah, I do." Kiku said as if he hadn't known it.

_"__And I," _he started _"one of the lovely maidens, looks out to find thee a fine knight at my tower. What be your purpose fine knight?" _Kiku looked up at Alfred.

Alfred swallowed heavily. _ "I find thee fair maiden, to be the most beautiful in the land to mine eyes and though I am no wealthy prince, I would like to declare my love for thee." _Alfred chuckled a little. "Arthur would have a fit reading this."

"Why?" Kiku asked.

"Because the English is all mixed up, its real old but also not in the right order to be like old English so…never mind. Just keep reading."

Kiku nodded curtly. "Okay then." He cleared his throat. "_Why fair Knight, I wouldn't care whether you were a rich prince or a poor pauper, you are my fair Knight. I accept your declaration of love and return it with my own."_

_"__Then fair maiden, might I come up your tower to claim you?"_

Kiku paused. "Claim me? What sort of show is this?"

Alfred shrugged, a small smile played on his lips. "It's cute I guess"

"Cute? It's kind of sexist…"

"Uh it takes place in like, I don't know sixteen something? So of course it's sexist."

"You said it wasn't accurate."

"Well…."

"If it's not accurate then why did they keep this part accurate?"

"Kiku I really don't think this is such a big issue, first of all I don't think a lot of people are going to notice the inaccuracies in the language. Probably just English snobs like Arthur. Secondly, the language and time period research are completely different. Thirdly, since when do you care so much about this stuff?"

Kiku huffed. "W-Well usually I don't…Ever since I've been being treated as a woman by Mr. Densen though I've been noticing it a lot more. It's just starting to bother me."

Alfred shook his head. "You're starting to sound like the people on _tumblr,_ just relax Kiku. It's only one play that was written in who knows when, probably the nineties or something."

Kiku took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah I guess you're right, I need to relax a bit about this. It's like you said, it's unlikely that Mr. Densen will change his mind and both of us need to pass to graduate."

"Right." Alfred smiled. "Back to the script then."

"Okay, can you just read your last line again, we can pick up where we left off."

"Got it." Alfred took a deep breath. Kiku watched his chest rise up and down. Though now he knew Alfred liked him, what he was doing wasn't strange or risky anymore. It was the type of thing a person did when they liked another person. This time Kiku could admire freely without anything to worry about. "_Then fair maiden, might I come up your tower to claim you?"_

Kiku cleared his throat and pushed himself past the line. "_Please do good sir, please come and take me from this place."_

"Now what?" Alfred asked, as the next few words were stage directions.

"I don't know…Read the directions?" Kiku suggested.

"Uh okay…" Alfred cleared his throat. "The brave knight goes up the tower and picks up the maiden, he carries her down the tower. He then stands before the audience and looks at the fair maiden lovingly."

"This is a weird script" Kiku grimaced.

"No kidding, looks like you have the next line."

"_Oh brave knight, let me hear your name again so I may not forget it."_

_"__My name, fair maiden, be that of many days old. You may call me Joshua. And you fine maiden what might I call you, so that name may never leave my lips or my heart."_

_"__You may call me what you like. Long as the name stays in your heart when you think of me. Call my by the flowers or the moon or what you think is beautiful, lest it not be another woman. And when you cannot think of something more beautiful than my name, than call me Josephine."_

_"__All well then Josephine. On this eve I pledge my love to a face as fine as yours. One so exotic and beautiful."_

_"__And I too pledge my love to you Joshua, brave knight who came for me."_

There was a pause between the two boys. The next stage direction read: "Joshua sets Josephine down, looks at her lovingly, and kisses her passionately until the main light goes off. Scene End". They both read it in their heads and looked at each other oddly. Not quite knowing how to go about it, or how they wished to go about it. Kiku looked at Alfred, their eyes caught and both looked away blushing. Alfred looked at Kiku and the same happened. It was awkward. It was more than awkward it was completely uncomfortable. Kiku felt squeamish, Alfred looked squeamish.

Kiku balled his hands in and out of fists. He was the one who had to prove he liked Alfred back so he would have to be the first to make a move. He nervously closed his script and put it by his side. He licked his lips, almost excitedly. Alfred was now staring at him. Kiku slowly scooted closer to him, his knees bumped Alfred's. Alfred looked nervous up close, more nervous than he had before. Kiku clenched his jaw and leaned forward awkwardly. He was fairly sure this wasn't how kisses were supposed to go.

Another paused moment. Kiku was centimeters away from Alfred's face. He could almost feel their noses touching. He could feel Alfred's breath on his mouth, he noticed that he was forgetting to breathe himself. Kiku was thinking too hard about this, he was concentrating on all the wrong things it felt like. Finally he closed his eyes, leaned in and closed the space between them. A rush went down Kiku's body. He was kissing someone he liked, _really _liked. Sure he'd kissed people before. One time a girl, it never really felt like anything compared to this. This was wonderful. Alfred's lips were soft, they weren't dry and his lip had opened partially. He could feel his teeth through his lips.

Alfred had been surprised at first that Kiku just kissed him like that. Eventually though he relaxed a bit. He pulled Kiku in closer by placing his hands on his face, two of his fingers went behind Kiku's ears and his large palms clutched Kiku's chin. Kiku moved with Alfred's hands pushing himself further into Alfred. It was a gentle, innocent kiss that only lasted a few seconds

Kiku pulled away and opened his eyes. He grinned, he felt wonderful. Adrenaline pumped through his body. Alfred was smiling back at him. Kiku brought his hand up in Alfred's hair. "Did that prove it to you?"

Alfred smirked and bit his lip. "I don't know if it proved it quite enough."

A small chuckle was all that Kiku could muster before tossing away the rest of his fears and wholeheartedly tackling Alfred. Alfred laughed as Kiku hurriedly kissed up Alfred's neck, on both of his cheeks, and on his forehead. He took a break and looked at Alfred, who was looking back at him gleefully. He had been waiting to do that for weeks. Then as if both of them had the same thought they came together locking lips again.

Alfred ran his tongue against the bottom of Kiku's lip. Kiku opened his mouth and let Alfred dart his tongue over Kiku's. Kiku felt good, he felt magical. Usually when he kissed someone he felt close to nothing. But with Alfred he felt excited and wonderful, he could hear his heart and feel the adrenaline. He really, really liked Alfred. More than anyone he'd ever liked before.

It lasted maybe 15 seconds. Kiku was on top of the world. He clutched Alfred's shirt and rolled down on the ground next to him. He panted a little but he couldn't help but grin. Alfred was grinning too. Kiku gently snuggled up next to Alfred.

"Okay" Alfred said and put his arms around Kiku. "I believe you now."

Kiku smiled into him. "I should hope so."

"Mmm" Alfred mused. He laid there for a moment.

Kiku sat up. "So," he pursed his lips and tilted his head at Alfred, "what does this make us now?"

Alfred sat up with him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…are we a couple?"

"Do you want to be? I mean…I don't know I thought that made us one."

Kiku blushed, he really never thought this day would come. "Yes of course I want to be, and you want to be a couple too?"

Alfred nodded and grabbed a cookie. "If I didn't want to be a couple I wouldn't want to kiss you so much."

Kiku beamed and hugged Alfred "Thank you!"

Alfred only laughed and patted Kiku's shoulder. "Don't thank me, it's something we both wanted right?"

Kiku nodded. "Yes, I suppose so."

The next day in school Kiku felt really good. Sure, his mother had scolded him a bit for letting himself get so beat up and he was still pretty bruised, but today he didn't care. Today Kiku felt like he was on top of the world. He and Alfred were together. Nothing seemed like it could go wrong. Not on this day anyway.

Today Kiku planned to talk to Ludwig. He really wanted to know if he got the same bullying that Kiku got. He only had one class with Ludwig and that was chemistry. Ludwig was only a seat behind him too so it shouldn't be hard to strike up a conversation. Kiku would just have to get past his shyness. Either way this was going to be the first day in school where he didn't feel so awful about himself. He was going in with a smile, and determined to go out with one.

First period was rough, there were jokes at Kiku and Alfred. Mr. Densen was laughing with the other kids but Alfred explained it really well to them. About their graduating and all that. Kiku made himself scarce while Alfred, who was quite the entrepreneur, calmed the jokes down to almost none. Mr. Densen looked pretty frustrated when the kids stopped laughing, but Kiku was really grateful. He wanted to hug and kiss Alfred and thank him for getting them out of the situation, but Kiku knew better. He knew they had to be secret.

The rest of his classes breezed by fairly quickly. Whenever a kid tried to joke about casting he just repeated what Alfred had said in first period. That seemed to calm the brunt of them down. By the time chemistry rolled around, there were almost no jokes circulating about the school play. In fact a new vicious brand of joke had arisen after a young boy had gotten some lemonade spilled on his pants after third period. One could only imagine the harassment that kid was getting. Kiku sat down in his chemistry class. He stared at a new turtle tank in front of him. There had to be a least three in the room already and Kiku couldn't believe there had been another one added. A few turtles milled around inside. He shook his head and sat down. Kiku would never understand Mr. Fernández Carriedo's obsession with turtles. He frowned at the boy sitting next to him, he'd never seen him before in his life. The boy had dark brown hair and looked a lot like someone Kiku had seen before. Something about the way his hair curled was so familiar. His skin was a little darker but more olive toned than anything. His eyes were very dark brown just like his hair.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" He said suddenly.

Kiku blinked in surprise and looked away and down. "N-Nothing! I-I mean I've never seen you before in this class…! Are you new?"

"What the hell do you think? I've been invisible all this time? Yes as a matter of fact I am new, well not quite. I used to be in fifth period but I had to transfer."

Kiku looked back up at him. He was trying to push his bits of embarrassment down. "Why did you have to transfer?"

"None of your damn business!" He shouted and looked away from Kiku. A moment later he spoke again. "I kept fighting with my brother."

"Brother?"

"Yeah you've probably seen him. He's stupid and looks exactly like me. His name is Feliciano and he's…" Loving shivered, as if utterly disgusted. "And he's dating _potato bastard"_

_"_Po-"

"I'm right here Lovino, and I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that." Both of them turned around to see Ludwig setting his backpack down and taking a seat.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here you fucking, Potato Bastard!?" Lovino practically screeched. He obviously had a problem with Ludwig for some reason.

"This is my Chemistry class, I suppose it's yours now too."

Lovino looked as if he was about to burst. He wheeled around in his chair and kicked the desk he and Kiku were sharing. "Fuck this! I can't switch classes again! Fuck, fuck, fuck my life!"

Kiku swallowed hard. How had this day taken such a turn for the worst? He didn't really like Lovino from first impressions. Feliciano, from the one time Kiku had seem him, seemed a lot nicer.

Mr. Fernández Carriedo walked up to the desk, a usual smile played on his lips. "Now Lovi, is that any way to talk during school hours?"

"Get away from me you fucking, Bastardo! And don't call me Lovi!"

"Mr. Fernández Carriedo looked unphased. "Do you want detention again?"

"I don't care! See if I care if I get fucking detention or not!"

"Lovino you're acting like a 7-year-old."

"I don't care! I'm 19! I can act whatever age I want to!"

"You should act like a 19-year-old."

"I don't want to! Fuck off!"

"Detention it is then." Mr. Fernández Carriedo pulled out some pink slips from his back pocket. He quickly filled one out and stuck it on Lovino's forehead. "See you in detention, Lovi." He smirked and ruffled Lovino's hair before walking away. Mr. Fernández Carriedo usually gave the kids ten minutes after class started to get "settled in". Kiku just thought that he didn't really want to teach yet. He was a good teacher though so Kiku didn't mind the free ten minutes.

"Fucking pervert." Lovino mumbled and crumpled the detention slip. He quickly shoved it in his pocket.

Kiku didn't want to think about Lovino anymore. He'd seen enough of him today and was really unhappy to be sitting next to him. He wondered where the other boy he used to sit next to went. That boy had been really nice. His name was Ravis. Kiku liked him, he needed a lot of help but he was never obnoxious about it and Kiku was always glad to come in and aid him. Now Lovino was next to him. Lovino took Ravis' spot and Kiku was unhappy about that. He didn't know what to do though. Despite Mr. Fernández Carriedo's knowledge on the subject of chemistry and his excellent teaching skills, he was pretty strict about where his students sat for some reason. It was odd because other than the one detail, the man didn't care about much else that you did in class.

Kiku turned to Ludwig, as Lovino pouted and sniffled in his seat. Ludwig's blond undercut showed not one hair out of place in its usual slicked back styling. His clothing was far from wrinkled but he wore it very stylishly. He was very well put together. "Hey." he said. It was all he could think to say anyway. Kiku hated being the first one to initiate conversation and he didn't exactly know how to start one that would be so heavy.

Ludwig looked up. "Hallo." He had a heavy accent, just like his brother Gilbert.

Kiku pursed his lips, then decided to speak again. "I heard you are from Germany, I know your brother Gilbert."

Ludwig's face went a little grim at the mention of his brother's name. "Oh yeah I am from Germany," He hesitated before continuing. "My brother Gilbert isn't really like…well he's a bit embarrassing I mean. The guy is a year older than me and still in high school, what does that say about him?"

Kiku chuckled a little. "At least he's not like my older brother, Yao, he was always such a know-it-all. I was always told to be more like him but I just couldn't."

"Well, I guess we're just both better products of our cultures then."

"I guess so…" Kiku trailed off and scooted a little closer to Ludwig to be away from Lovino, who was just crying now. "Speaking of culture, do you ever get picked on because of that?"

"What do you mean?" Ludwig looked at him sternly.

"I mean…do they ever call you Nazi or Kraut or something?"

Ludwig pursed his lips. "I see…No, not anymore. Only him." He nodded his head toward Lovino. "And he just doesn't like me because…" Ludwig got quiet, as if he was ashamed of what he was about to say.

Kiku decided to finish the sentence. "Because of your relationship with his brother?"

Ludwig blushed deeply. "_Ja das ist_…I mean yes, because of my relationship with Feliciano."

"Well, if it makes you feel better I don't really care if you're dating another boy. He seems really nice and from what I've heard from Gilbert you guys really like each other."

Ludwig blushed more, if it was possible, and leaned forward. "Yes he's nice but I'd prefer it if we didn't talk about it here. I mean…I know everyone knows but I'm just not a very _public _person."

Kiku nodded. "Of course, I'm the same way."

Ludwig grunted. "I'm embarrassed to ask you this but I don't really know your name…"

"Oh!" Kiku blushed a little. In his rush to ask the question he'd forgotten to mention his name. "I'm Kiku. Kiku Honda."

Ludwig smiled a little. "Nice to meet you Kiku, I guess you know my name already."

Kiku nodded.

"So, why were you asking me about name calling? Have you been having a problem?"

Now it was Kiku's turn to blush. "W-well…yes."

"Is that how you got hurt?" Kiku nodded in response. "I see…" Ludwig continued. "It did happen to me a lot when I first came here but it will die down. Something new will come around and they'll forget about you. Until then just try to stay away from them and ignore it."

Kiku nodded, it was reasonable advice. "Thank you, Ludwig."

"You're welcome." He smiled.

Kiku wanted to say more. He liked Ludwig. Not in the way he liked Alfred but he felt as if he and Ludwig could be good friends. He felt a connection with him on some level, though he couldn't explain what.

"Hey, why don't you and Feliciano have lunch with us today?"

"Do we have the same lunch?"

Kiku nodded "I've seen you around, you guys are usually sitting alone right? I sit with a couple of guys…Maybe you know them, Francis Bonnefoy and Arthur Kirkland?"

Ludwig chuckled a little. "Oh yeah I know them, Arthur and I used to be horrible enemies. We made up now but I never really liked British people that much anyway. As for Francis he's afraid of me. Well, more afraid of my dogs than of me, but still…"

Kiku deflated. "Oh so probably not then?"

"No, I'll sit by you; I like talking to you Kiku. Besides Feliciano is friends with the two of them. Even if Francis does get too cozy with him at times. Is there anyone else you sit with?"

Kiku nodded. "Alfred Jones comes by about halfway through, and sometimes your brother and his girlfriend, Elizabeta, sit by us."

"Quite a crowd."

"No kidding."

"Okay, we can join you, I think Feliciano has been feeling lonely at our table anyway."

"Great!" Kiku smiled. "I'll see you then."

"See you then." Ludwig said.

Kiku turned around, he'd completely forgotten about Lovino. Lovino, who was now looking directly at him-very intensely. "What the fuck did you have to say to him?"

Kiku blinked. "Um…Well I just had a few questions to ask a-"

"Did he say anything about my brother?!"

"N-no not really, I mean just that he was really nice…"

Lovino scowled and turned away. "Kraut-bastard."

The last part of what Lovino said was cut short by Mr. Fernández Carriedo's bell. He always rang it when the ten minutes were up. There was a turtle on his shoulder, there always seemed to be a turtle on him and Kiku couldn't figure out how they always got there. From the looks of it neither could Mr. Fernández Carriedo. Class began, and Kiku began to focus on his notes.

Lunch found Kiku quickly. He was rather hungry by the time it came around which was unusual to him. He'd been bouncing in his seat almost all day. He was constantly fidgeting and double checking things. It was as if he were on some sort of sugar rush.. All that was on Kiku's mind was Alfred. He knew it probably wasn't very healthy, but he just couldn't help himself. Maybe it would wear off after a while but for now he was going to have to live off this short "life-high".

He sat down at his usual table, in his usual spot at the end. Francis and Arthur were already there.

"Just let me make you lunch one day of the week. Then maybe you wouldn't be so horribly thin!" Francis huffed and picked at Arthur's food.

"Get your hands off of that!" Arthur slapped him away. "No, you can't make lunch for me any day of the week! I can cook just fine by myself."

"I beg to differ."

"Oh, do you now? And how would you know so well what's good for me and what isn't? Maybe I _like _my food. Did that ever cross your mind, nit-wit?"

Francis snorted. "Okay, so those times I saw you gagging after eating some of your own…'food' that was you actually loving it?"

Arthur scowled. "Shut up, Frog!"

"I own a restaurant, Arthur. It wouldn't be any trouble to make you something or get you something…"

"Correction! Your _family _owns a restaurant, not you."

"So you'll take the help then?"

"I never sa-"

Ludwig came over and put his lunch down beside Kiku. It was potatoes and some spaghetti with sauce on it. "Hey." He grunted and sat down.

Francis yelped and hugged Arthur. "Ai ! What are you doing here ?!"

Ludwig frowned at him. "I came to join your table, not to frighten you."

Francis relaxed only slightly. Arthur looked calm.

Feliciano bounded over soon after Ludwig. He put his things very close to Ludwig and sat down beside him, leaning against his shoulder. "ve~ Luddy I almost couldn't find you! You're sitting by people." He sat up for a moment and looked around. "Hey, Arthur and Francis! How are you?"

"Just fine." Arthur pouted and picked at his food.

Francis smirked. "Well I'm just great since you arrived Feliciano, would you like to sit next to me?"

"Sit next to you? Well can Ludwig sit by you too?" He happily pulled his lunch out, which Kiku noticed was a somewhat large Tupperware of pasta.

Francis' face had grown grim again. "_N-non_. You know what, you can stay where you are. Why go to all the trouble of moving?"

Ludwig and Arthur both smirked. Ludwig wanted to keep Feliciano by his side and to keep him away from Francis, and Arthur wanted to keep Francis to himself and to keep him away from other people.

Feliciano grinned, he didn't seem like the type of person to catch on very quickly to what was going on. "Okay!" he turned to Kiku. "Hello! You're new right? I'm Feliciano. Do you like pasta? Wait, I don't even know your name!"

Kiku blushed a little, overwhelmed by Feliciano's energy. "O-Oh hello, I'm Kiku Honda but you can just call me Kiku."

Feliciano frowned a little bit. "Kiku…I feel like I've heard of you before. Oh well! I'm

Feliciano Vargas but you can call me Feliciano!" He laughed "You're Japanese right?"

Kiku nodded, "Yes I am Japanese."

Feliciano instantly brightened and hugged Ludwig. "Luddy did you hear that?! I guessed it right! I bet you weren't expecting that!"

Ludwig blushed a little, but didn't move. "Good job Feli, why don't you sit and eat now though."

"Aww but I want to talk to Kiku more."

Kiku looked at Ludwig. "It's alright, he seems really friendly."

"I am friendly!" Feliciano draped himself over Ludwig so that he was face to face with Kiku. "You never answered my question, do you like pasta?"

Kiku smiled a little. "I don't eat it very often, mainly rice…but sure, pasta is fine."

"Great! Then you're in the good with me!"

"Um okay…" Kiku looked at the others but Francis and Arthur were bickering about Arthur's food again and Ludwig looked like he was trying to eat while under the weight of Feliciano.

"Maybe we could exchange recipes some time!"

Kiku smiled, he was glad that he met both Feliciano and Ludwig. "Yeah that sounds fine."

"Oh, oh, and maybe you can come out sometime with Luddy and I! Wouldn't that be fun Luddy?"

Ludwig glanced up in the direction of Feliciano. "Yeah I think it would be a good opportunity to get to know a new friend."

"Yaay!" Feliciano looked back at Kiku. "Did you hear that Kiku? Luddy wants you to come too! Will you please come out with us?"

"Uh, okay, I'd be happy to." Kiku smiled a little, he wasn't used to having so many friends. Or people that wanted to even invite him out for that matter.

"Horrayy!" Feliciano cheered and threw his arms in the air. He then quickly toppled off of Ludwig and onto the floor. "Oof!" Kiku was afraid that he might cry but instead he just stared blankly at the ceiling in shock.

Ludwig shook his head. "Feliciano are you alright?"

Feliciano stayed frozen on the ground, arms and legs still sprawled out. "ve~ yes I think I'm okay. Just a little shocked that's all." He laughed weakly.

Ludwig held out his hand. "Come on grab my hand so I can help you up."

"N-No! I want to be strong like you are, I don't want your help."

Ludwig looked surprised. Feliciano slowly got himself up off the ground and brushed himself off. He wasn't shaking, Kiku thought he might shake but maybe he had accidents often.

Suddenly Alfred came over to the lunch table. He stopped short and stared at Ludwig intensely. Ludwig was sitting next to Kiku, where Alfred usually sat. He stared for a long time, a really long time. It was making Kiku uncomfortable, Ludwig thankfully didn't notice until at least after a minute. Finally Alfred spoke. Kiku breathed. "Hello."

Ludwig smiled at him weakly. "Alfred, we're not enemies anymore, you can sit down."

Alfred sort of danced in his place and shook his head. "That's not it, you're just sitting where I usually sit."

Ludwig blinked. "Well, I was here first."

Alfred's lip twitched a little with disdain. Hardly noticeable to the eye. "Yes, I understand that, but I just had something important to tell Kiku."

"And why can you not say it in front of us?"

Alfred huffed. "Because it's personal! Could you please move to the other side of the table?" He furrowed his brows together in frustration.

Kiku was now blushing, he tried to focus on his food. Arthur and Francis had temporarily stopped bickering and were looking at Alfred. Everyone but Kiku was looking at Alfred, and Kiku was looking at his lunch. Ludwig didn't seem like he wanted to argue. He looked over at Feliciano. "Feli, do you mind changing seats?"

Feliciano pouted for a second, and then shrugged. "Well…I guess I'm already up." He slowly began to pack up his things. It almost seemed typical of Feliciano's nature to be a little slower. Kiku thought he seemed a bit more like a chore than a boyfriend but Ludwig didn't seem to mind. He was on the other end of the spectrum though, much more quick and efficient. By the time Ludwig had gotten to the other side of the table, Feliciano had just finished zipping his backpack up.

Alfred bounded over and sat down next to Kiku. He set his lunch down at the table and looked at him, quickly he grabbed Kiku's hand under the able and grinned. Kiku smiled back even if he felt a bit embarrassed that Alfred was so enthusiastic. "What did you have to ask me?" He asked.

"Oh!" Alfred leaned over and whispered in Kiku's ear. "I got invited to a party, I want you to come with me."

"A party?" Kiku pulled away from Alfred so he could look at him. He forgot it was supposed to be a secret. "What kind of party?"

Francis perked up, and was of course the first to speak. "Party? You mean the one on Saturday?"

"You know about it?" Alfred seemed surprised and maybe a tad hurt.

Francis just scoffed a bit and looked at Arthur who just rolled his eyes and scowled. "Well of course I knew about it, I know about every party." He smirked a bit. "Arthur and I were planning on going."

"Ve~! Us too!" Feliciano spoke up and clung to Ludwig's arm. "Gilbert invited us!"

Ludwig frowned, he didn't strike Kiku as much of the party type. Maybe Feliciano, but Ludwig seemed so straight laced. Truthfully, he didn't know that much about the Germans though. Only that they liked beer, and Ludwig, being a senior like Kiku, was old enough to have beer in Germany. In Japan Kiku wouldn't be able to drink until he was twenty.

Ludwig sighed, "We won't be staying long though."

"Aww, but Luddy, parties are fun~!"

Ludwig pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd probably had this conversation before. "Things can happen at parties Feliciano, we can discuss this later."

Feliciano looked down. "Oh…yeah you're right. Okay." He looked up at Kiku who began to pack up his lunch. "Well since the party is on Saturday, how about we all hang out Friday?"

"That sounds fine." Kiku zipped up his backpack and smiled at Ludwig and Feliciano.

"Shall I just meet you after school then?"

"Wait a minute." Alfred stopped eating for a second, he froze with French-fries in his hand.

"What's going on this Friday?"

"Ve~ Kiku is going to come out with me and Ludwig! Isn't that great?"

Alfred's usual smile faltered. He looked at Kiku. "Weren't we supposed to practice our lines on Friday?" His lip tightened.

Kiku looked down. "Alfred as much as I'd like to practice lines, and I really would, I'd also like to have a chance to go out with some new friends."

"Oh." Alfred let go of Kiku's hand under the table.

Ludwig could see that Alfred was bothered but it wasn't clear if he knew why. "It will only be one day, I can see you and Kiku are close but he does need more than one friend."

"Yeah, I guess…"

Francis and Arthur looked insulted. "Uh excuse me," Francis interrupted "but what are we, chopped liver over here?"

"Yes, I think we've spent enough time with Kiku to also be friends with him." Arthur folded his arms and leaned into Francis a bit, who nodded along with him.

Kiku was getting worried. "You are my friends," He said and turned to them. "I-I don't think he meant to say something like that. I mean he's only known me a little less than a day."

Ludwig grunted. "Yes Kiku is right, I didn't mean to make such assumptions." He tuned to Kiku, "Friday after school is fine, Feliciano and I will wait for you at the stop sign by the history classrooms."

Kiku smiled. "Okay!" He turned to Alfred. "It's just one day out of the whole year that I'm making plans or will make plans over plans I have with you. Is that alright?"

Alfred furrowed his eyebrows together, like he usually did when he was frustrated. "Alright, I'll just invite some football friends over then."

"Okay." Kiku said cooly, finally calming down a little. He turned back to Ludwig and Feliciano. "See you both on Friday then."

Friday came faster than Kiku had expected. It had only been Wednesday when they made the plan, though, so in a way the speed of the day coming was inevitable. Practically all of Thursday either Ludwig or Feliciano found themselves at Kiku's side; as they saw him walking to class they would join him by his side and begin talking. Kiku didn't mind the company, Alfred was usually with his football friends anyway in passing period. He liked talking to both of them, it was as if they had been friends forever. They joined him at lunch on Thursday and Friday as well. By the time Friday had rolled around Kiku already felt like he knew the both of them better than he knew his friends in Japan.

Somewhat impatiently, Kiku waited by the stop sign. He checked his watch, Ludwig and Feliciano were late. Kiku had the impression that it was Feliciano holding them up. Ludwig wasn't really the type of guy to be late. Kiku sighed and adjusted his backpack. Finally he heard their voices coming from behind him. He turned around just to see the two of them coming, though Ludwig faster than Feliciano.

"Come on Feli, we're late!"

"Aw, I bet Kiku doesn't mind!"

"It's rude Feliciano. Come on, hurry up."

"You're walking too fast!"

_Maybe you're walking too slowly. _Kiku thought, as he watched the both of them walking toward him.

"I'm not, I'm just trying to get over to him! Look he's already there."

Feliciano looked past Ludwig so he could see Kiku. His face lit up and he broke into a jog toward Kiku, surpassing Ludwig and bringing Kiku into a tight hug. So much so that it lifted his feet off the ground. "ve~ you were here before us!" He laughed and Kiku blushed in his arms.

"Maybe you could put me down…?" was all he was able to squeak out.

Feliciano laughed again. "Sorry, I just get so excited! I'm glad you really came! Not many people usually come around with us." He twirled around with Kiku once and then set him down. His face was beaming.

Ludwig caught up to them. "We didn't keep you waiting too long did we?"

Kiku shook his head. "No, not really. Where will we go?"

Ludwig smiled a little. "We thought that it might be fun to go to the petting zoo."

"Petting zoo?"

Feliciano grinned and grabbed his hands. "Yeah! It's fun and the animals are all so cute!"

"I-I haven't been to a petting zoo in years, I don't know…"

"Come on Kiku! Please?"

Ludwig spoke up. "Really, we thought it might be fun to do something more light-hearted. Well…Feliciano thought it was fun, he managed to convince me though."

Feliciano smiled. "It'll be fun Kiku! Besides, can you think of anything better to do?"

Kiku rocked back on his feet. He was living in New York but he really couldn't think of much that he _really _wanted to do. He didn't feel like going out someplace to eat, and he didn't have money to shop. He'd been to the movies quite a few times with Arthur and Francis and after that there weren't really many other options. The only other thing he could think of was a bookstore. He shook his head at Feliciano. "No, I can't think of anything else. Alright let's go."

Feliciano beamed. "Yay! Come on, let's leave now so we don't miss the bus!"

"Oh, now you want to be fast?" Ludwig smirked and folded his arms, but Feliciano wasn't listening. He was trying to pull on both Ludwig and Kiku's arms.

The two of them quickly complied and walked down the pathway with Feliciano who ran. When they got outside it was sunny but very cold. Kiku had thought to wear a better jacket today though, it was blue and more meant for winter. He zipped it up when they got outside. Ludwig didn't seem to be phased much by the weather at all and Feliciano clung to him like glue. They walked to the bus stop hurriedly, both Ludwig and Feliciano chatting at Kiku. It was really mostly Feliciano though.

It was a while before they got on the bus but it was a lot warmer. Kiku was able to unzip his Jacket and Feliciano shied away from Ludwig a bit, though he still clung on to his arm it just wasn't as tight.

"How long is the ride?" Kiku asked.

"Not very long, maybe twenty minutes." Ludwig looked at his watch. "We'll be there at around three."

"Okay" Kiku nodded quickly, "that sounds fine."

Twenty minutes was an understatement. There had been some accident, it held up all the roads. They didn't get there for another hour and then they had to walk for ten minutes. Feliciano was complaining that he was hungry and that his feet hurt. He asked Ludwig to carry him once or twice, though Ludwig refused both times because he said it was socially unacceptable. Feliciano looked disappointed but continued to walk and complain. When they finally reached the place, a deep onset of embarrassment rushed through Kiku as he looked around and saw that there were only mobs of children. They must've been the only ones over twelve. Feliciano ran up to the gate by the children.

"Yaay! We're finally here!" He immediately began making conversation with as many children as he could, talking about all the animals he liked and how he'd been here a lot of times. He really seemed to be good with children. Ludwig was looking at him very lovingly. A small smile played on his lips.

Kiku bumped him lightly. "So I take it he's good with children?"

Ludwig looked over a Kiku after a moment. "Huh? Oh yeah, he volunteers at the community church nursery, you know. They helped his family out when they first came here to America and he likes spending time with the kids. They all love him."

"Do you ever stop by to visit him there?"

"Oh yeah, I do. He talks about me sometimes I think because they're not as scared of me as most kids are when they first see me." He laughed a little half-heartedly.

"I see…" Kiku inhaled deeply. "Maybe we should go in now before it gets too late." He smiled a little, in his own moment of a little smugness, knowing that he was right.

"Yeah, good point." Ludwig began walking toward the gate. "Come on Feli! Time to go inside."

Feliciano brightened at the sound of his name and jogged over to Ludwig. He looked like he was almost ready to burst with excitement. "Kiku I can't wait to show you all the animals!" He grinned and latched himself on to Ludwig's arm where he usually was.

Kiku walked on the other side of Ludwig. "Oh, really? What sort of things do they have?"

"Lots of animals! Not as many as a zoo but their domestic area is my favorite. You can pet stuff there!"

"Ja but, please don't get lost again this time Feli." Ludwig pinched his nose again. "I got so worried."

"I wooonnn't" Feliciano whined. "Besides I was safe! I was just reading to kids in the daycare center."

"Feliciano I didn't know where you had gone! You could have gotten hurt."

"I wouldn't have…I can take care of myself."

Ludwig just grumbled and continued walking. He obviously thought differently. It must've been somewhat obvious because Feliciano pouted all the way to the gate.

The woman inside the ticket box looked them over as if she knew they were too old to be there. She sort of rolled her eyes in an unimpressed way. Kiku didn't really care though, it wasn't as if he was trying to impress her. He knew for sure Ludwig and Feliciano weren't. She leaned forward in the most careless way possible and spoke into the microphone.

"And how many tickets will that be…gentlemen?"

Ludwig's lip tightened, he knew that she was speaking rudely on purpose. "Three adults." Kiki began to pull his money out but Ludwig stopped him. "_Nein_. I mean- no. This is my treat I'll pay for you."

Kiku wavered a bit. "I don't think I could let you pay for me Ludwig."

"No, really let me cover you. We wanted to take you out, it feels wrong to make you pay."

"I don't know, I ju-"

Feliciano leapt forward and grabbed both of Kiku's hands and looked into his eyes. Kiku backed up a bit, uncomfortably. "Kiku! Let us pay for you please! Please, please, plleeaaseee…! We really want to do this for you."

Kiku hesitated again. "…Fine but I'm not very comfortable with this. If anything I should be paying for you."

"Don't be ridiculous." Ludwig put his money on the counter.

Kiku stayed silent and the lady slid the tickets out to them. "Have a good time, try not to get bitten by any of the animals." She said, her words thick with sarcasm.

The three boys pretended to ignore her and they all walked in. Immediately all the children Feliciano was talking to surrounded him. They were shouting things and clinging to him. He laughed but a little nervously but talked to them just like he was before. He ran over and bought some food for the animals. He quickly passed it all out to the kids, and kept three packs. One for himself, one for Ludwig and one for Kiku. He walked back over to them and handed them bags.

"I hope you don't mind if we have a few people joining us!" He grinned, and before waiting for an answer walked off with a line of kids behind him.

"Does this happen often?" Kiku whispered to Ludwig.

Ludwig just shrugged. "Occasionally. He brings a lot of happiness around with him."

"I can tell!" Kiku remarked, watching how long the line of kids was getting. "We should probably follow him."

Ludwig chuckled and shook his head. "That's a funny thought, following Feliciano. Usually he's just a follower himself."

"Hmm, well I guess there is a first time for everything." Kiku said and marched forward, attempting to weave his way through the kids and catch up to Feliciano. Ludwig followed close behind him. Finally all three were at the front of the line. Feliciano was acting like a tour guide. He told all about all the animals they were passing, though Kiku wasn't sure if all that he was saying was completely true.

It took them a while because the kids had a lot of questions, but they finally reached the interactive part of the zoo. Kiku wasn't always good with animals but with Ludwig and Feliciano he felt fairly good. Feliciano was helping the kids in one corner of the zoo with goats. Kiku went over by some llamas and approached him cautiously. Gently he began to pet the animal. His self-consciousness sort of drifted away. He sort of forgot he was eighteen for a moment, it was almost like he was ten again. Carefully he took out his little bag of food and put some in his hand. He gingerly opened his hand to the llama who nibbled the food out of it. Kiku smiled, maybe he wasn't as bad with animals as he thought he was. Unfortunately for him, the thought ended quickly when the llama bit his finger. He jumped and bit his lip. The llama was squeezing his finger really hard. He laughed nervously. He knew he couldn't pull his finger because when you did that the animal's grip gets tighter. He cursed to himself under his breath. Really unsure of what to do. He didn't want to call for help, that was for certain. He couldn't let this go on for much longer though. The pain was getting worse, tears pricked in the corners of Kiku's eyes. He had to think of something rather quickly. He tried to think clearly, but the only idea he had was to tickle the llamas chin with his other hand. It was the only idea he had so it was the only one he would act on. He moved quickly, bringing himself closer to the llama and then utilizing his other hand. He did the best he could and scratched under its chin in the most affectionate way he could think of. The llama freaked out a bit and let go of Kiku's finger. He briskly shoved his hands into his pockets and moseyed away from the llamas.

Ludwig was by Feliciano. He was trying to be nice to the kids but they shied away from him and hung on to Feliciano. They were having a nice time. Kiku went over by them and spent the rest of the time by them. Ludwig ended up getting kicked by a goat, all the kids laughed. He had chuckled weakly but you could tell he knew he'd have a pretty bad bruise tomorrow. Despite his finger being almost bitten clean off Kiku had ended up having a really good time. He found out a lot about his new friends on this adventure. Feliciano was really funny and he really liked to cook. Apparently he was quite the artist too. Ludwig had a few photos on his phone and Feliciano had some too. Kiku could really only draw manga but he was pretty good at it he thought. Ludwig was pretty incapable of doing art himself but it turned out that he was good at a lot of academics. Really smart, and not only that but he was also really fit. He spent a lot of time working according to Feliciano. Feliciano had tried to work with him at some time or another but he gave up fairly fast according to the both of them. Kiku had only laughed and suggested that maybe they work out altogether sometime, he'd would like to get in shape too. Feliciano had thought that it was a great idea whereas Ludwig looked unsure.

By the end of the day Kiku was very grateful that he'd gone out with them. He really liked the both of them and wanted to spend more time with them. All of them, including the kids went out to dinner at the zoo. Kiku helped cover the prices but it had been fun. After a few hours Feliciano had reluctantly said goodbye to the kids and they all left the petting zoo laughing.

"I can't believe one of the kids thought you invented ketchup since you're German!" Feliciano practically buckled over. "Imagine that! It's so messy!"

Ludwig laughed with him, his laugh wasn't quite as cute as Feliciano's. Ludwig's laugh was loud and could scare someone almost. Feliciano clung to him though and never seemed to let go. Ludwig spoke "I know! They were cute weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were." Kiku wiped a tear from his eye. "The whole thing was pretty hilarious."

"Oh, yes I know. We'll have to do it again sometime." Ludwig straightened out. "But it's getting really late." He looked at his watch. "It's probably time to say goodbye."

"Awww but Luddy I'm having such a good time!" Feliciano rolled around on Ludwig a bit.

"I'm sorry Feli." He gently pecked the top of Feliciano's head, making Feliciano's face light up in a way that Kiku hadn't seen it light up before. "We'll see Kiku again soon…"

"Mmm yeah…! Like tomorrow night!" Feliciano grinned at him. "We will see you at the party right?"

Kiku nodded. "Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again, thank you for taking me out tonight."

"Of course." Ludwig nodded at him.

"Yeah~! It was a lot of fun!" Feliciano practically bounced with his words.

"It was." Kiku bowed. "I will see you both tomorrow, thank you again for your kindness."

Feliciano giggled. "Of course! See you tomorrow Kiku."

"See you tomorrow." Kiku waved as the two of them got on their bus. Ludwig gave him a short wave and nod and Feliciano happily wagged his arm back and forth.

It was ten more minutes until Kiku's bus came around. He climbed on board tiredly, but happily. He thought back on the events of the day and how much he was looking forward to tomorrow. He wasn't much of a partier but he wanted to see his friends, and Alfred again. He reached for his ipod and put on his music. He set his head back and closed his eyes, the bus ride home was going to be long and he was going to have a big day tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, this is chapter 4! It's a big one too, took me forever to finish. I hope you like it. I know the end is a little rushed but I'm trying to meet a deadline. :P thanks again for all of your wonderful reviews and favorites it means a lot to me!<br>I hope y'all have a wonderful week  
>M.O. <strong>


	5. Chapter 5 Party Time

Chapter 5 Party Time

Kiku checked his watch, it was 6:15, and Alfred was going to pick him up at 6:30. It was just a few hours ago that Kiku found out that Alfred could drive. Apparently he didn't really like to and his dad refused to pay for senior parking, which is why Alfred took the bus to school. Besides in New York City it's easier to take the bus than to drive anyway, so Alfred had never really minded. Kiku looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to wear to a party like this. For now he just had on a shirt that had thick stripes on the top and was solid white at the bottom. The stripes were black and grey. His pants were tan-colored and rolled up at the ankle - they were the only somewhat stylish pants he owned. He paired it all with a pair of white sneakers and his green jacket. Kiku's parents were happy that he was going out. His friends in Japan hardly ever invited him out, so this was a change for him. They were going to go out themselves tonight anyway, so before they left, his mother had made sure to tell him how handsome he looked. Kiku quickly tousled his hair a bit and went downstairs. On the table his mother had left dinner for him. He sat down by himself and lowered his head.

"_itadakimasu_"

He picked up his chopsticks and slowly ate his food, which was made up of rice, soup and vegetables. It was lonely eating alone for Kiku. Usually he was with his family, his parents didn't go out that much and it was really rare for Kiku to eat without them. He jumped when he heard a noise but it was just the cat. He ate as quickly as he could seeing that he only had about ten minutes before Alfred showed up. When he was finished he cleaned his bowl in the sink and left it on the rack to dry.

"_gochiso sama deshita._" He mumbled quietly to himself.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. He jumped and then checked his watch, it was already 6:35. He hastily made his way to the door. Alfred was standing there twirling a daisy in his fingers. He had on a baseball bomber jacket and a black shirt on underneath. His jeans were sort of a greenish color and he had sneakers on as well. He brightened when he saw Kiku.

"Kiku, hi!" He held out the small daisy. "I brought this for you! I mean, I picked it for you! But not out of your yard… I just found it and I thought of you…" He laughed nervously. "Sorry I'm just…I mean I'm looking forward to…" He scratched the back of his neck. Kiku had never seen him this nervous before, maybe before a football game but that was it. "What I'm trying to say is that- um, well I don't really know."

Kiku smiled and took the daisy. "Thank you, Alfred, this was really nice of you. You can calm down you know, or you're going to make me nervous for the party."

Alfred rocked back on his feet. "Okay…You look really nice tonight, Kiku."

Kiku grinned. "Thank you, you look handsome yourself."

Alfred beamed. "Really? Thanks!"

They stood at the door awkwardly for a moment. Kiku looked at his watch, it was getting later. Alfred spoke again. "What will you do with the daisy?"

Kiku looked down at it. He'd been twirling it around in his hand like Alfred had been doing a moment ago. "Oh, I don't know. Have you got an idea?"

Alfred hesitated for a moment until nodding his head. "Yes, but you might think it's stupid."

"I won't think it's stupid." Kiku shook his head and chuckled.

"Can I see the daisy then?"

Kiku nodded and placed the daisy in Alfred's hand. Alfred smiled and tucked the daisy behind Kiku's ear. Kiku couldn't help but blush, he lifted his hand up and touched it. He liked it there. But a rush of concern coursed through him. "Will it be alright there? Are the kids going to make fun of me?"

Alfred's smile faltered for a moment. "No, there are all kinds of kids there and I'm sure most of them will be wasted. Nothing will happen, I'll make sure of that."

Kiku smiled and looked down, he shuffled his feet. "Okay, we should probably go though. It's getting later."

"We're going to be there a long time."

"Yeah, but this jacket isn't very warm and I don't really want to stand outside anymore if that's okay." Kiku blushed more. He didn't like voicing his mind like this.

"What? Oh, um okay." Alfred laughed. "You should have said so earlier. Let me walk you to my car."

Kiku felt a warm arm drape over his shoulders. He looked up at Alfred and leaned into him as Alfred took him to his car. Alfred was so much bigger than he was. He could fit his arms around Kiku so easily. Alfred's car was a few blocks down because of the "No Parking" signs around Kiku's neighborhood. Alfred's car was fairly average. It wasn't anything extravagant but it wasn't a dump either. It was maybe only a few years old, probably his mom's old car. It was an Audi a6, fairly expensive but not overly done. Kiku rubbed his palms together and got in the passenger seat. The car wasn't messy. Kiku figured that, like Alfred's bedroom, his mom probably made him keep it tidy. Alfred sat down in the driver's seat and started the car. The music came on loudly it was _Tie Your Mother Down _from _Queen. _Alfred jumped and turned it down.

"Heh, sorry about that. _Queen_ is my favorite band."

"It's okay, I just wasn't expecting it. I like _Queen_ too." Kiku smiled and turned the volume up a little so the words were more audible.

They finally walked inside. Parking had been hectic. There were cars all the way down the street and then some. Finally the two of them had found a parking spot but they had to walk about a mile to get to the house. The door was open and loud music was coming from inside. It was a stereotypical high school party. Kiku and Alfred walked up to the front steps, Kiku glanced inside. Almost everyone had a red cup in their hand; the house wasn't trashed though. It was, however, very loud inside. There was a rave in another room. People were kissing, playing xbox, dancing, drinking, and more. Kiku was intimidated to say the least.

Alfred grabbed Kiku's hand and walked inside. It didn't look like he came to these parties often but it obviously wasn't his first. Maybe this was the only place, Kiku thought, that he could be open about his relationships here. Though currently he didn't have a fake girlfriend at school. Kiku looked around again now that he was inside. He saw Ludwig and Feliciano; Alfred scowled at them.

"You don't need to talk to them yet, besides they're drunk."

"I want to talk to them, they're my friends."

"Come on, we just got here."

"Exactly, I can talk to them now and spend the rest of the night with you. Stop acting jealous."

"I'm not acting jealous!" Alfred crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine, go talk to them. I'm going to use the bathroom in the meantime."

"Okay, I'll find you." Kiku smiled and, feeling oddly confident, stood on his tiptoes and kissed Alfred on the cheek.

Alfred smiled and kissed the top of Kiku's head before walking away. Kiku made his way through the crowds of people, feeling a little closed in. He walked up to Feliciano and Ludwig. Ludwig had a beer in his hand, he didn't look very drunk though. Feliciano looked a bit tipsier, but he was grimacing at the beer.

A loud crash made Kiku jump and stop in his tracks. "Shit!" Was all he heard, the whole crowd seemed to have frozen and was looking in one direction. Kiku was short so he tried to see his way through the crowd. He finally found a hole and looked through it. Gilbert was near the top of the stairs looking sort of concerned. His nose was bright red and you could tell he was fairly drunk. He wavered a bit and Elizabeta ran up to him. "Lizzy, I didn't mean to break your vase."

Elizabeta smiled tiredly. "It's not my vase, I just said it was nice earlier."

"Oh. Maybe_ wir koennen_ should..uhm…_veileicht _we can try and fix it _kann._" He was mixing German and English.

Elizabeta took his arm and started pulling him away. "No Gilbert, I'll just pay for it,"

"Aber Lizzzyyyy, das ist too much _Geld viele. Ich_ cannot let you pay so much."

"Don't worry, Gilbert, my family has money. It'll be okay. Come with me." She started taking him down the stairs now.

"_Mehr Bier_?"

"I don't know, just come away from this mess." The two of them walked down the stairs and the party sort of resumed. Kiku finished making his way over to Feliciano and Ludwig.

Ludwig was pinching his nose again, he seemed to do that a lot when he was frustrated. "_Ich_ _glaub mein Bruder nicht_." He mumbled to himself in German. "This is why I tried to quit drinking."

"Aw that didn't last very long though did it Luddy?" Feliciano giggled and leaned into him. "If I know my Ludwig it's that he likes beer."

Ludwig sighed heavily. "I'm not very proud of that, like Gilbert is."

"Hey" Kiku said, as he finally really got close to them. "How are you?"

"Ve~! Kiku!" Feliciano came over and hugged him. "You came! I'm glad to see you."

Ludwig clapped him on the shoulder. "Me too, we were almost afraid you wouldn't come."

"Do you want a beer?" Feliciano held out his red cup.

Kiku shook his head. "No, isn't that illegal here?"

Ludwig shrugged. "I always lived by Germany's rules, Feliciano lives by Italy's. Why not live for Japan's?"

Kiku smiled a little. "I still couldn't drink though, the legal age is twenty there."

"Oh, well that's okay Kiku you can still have a good time without drinking." Feliciano smiled and danced around a bit. "Like listen to the music! Isn't it fun to dance to?" He set his cup down and grabbed Kiku, twirling him around and then beginning to dance with him. The unfortunate thing was that he was really not a very good dancer. He thought he saw a flash of someone take a picture but when he went to look at who might have a camera, the only person he recognized was Elizabeta. He turned back to Feliciano who was still dancing.

He pulled away from him. "You know I'm not really much of a dancer either."

"Aw, but Kiku, how are you going to have any fun then?"

"Well Alfred is here."

"You and Alfred seem really close!" Feliciano leaned on Kiku a bit. "Almost as close as me and Ludwig."

Ludwig got up and pulled Feliciano on to him. "Okay Feli, maybe we should go somewhere else now."

"No, wait!" He broke away from Ludwig and came back over to Kiku. Ludwig's bright, blue eyes were now fully sober and pierced into Feliciano. "Do you like Alfred?"

"Uhm…" Kiku was uncomfortable, his face was red. Someone threw up in a plant next to him and he jumped into Feliciano as Ludwig was trying to apologize and pull him away.

"You _do _like him!" Feliciano kept talking. "I can tell! That's so cute! You should tell Elizabeta she'd be very interested in that…!"

"What?" Kiku was confused, the noise and music was all really loud and his head was starting to hurt too. "What does Elizabeta have to do with this?"

"Well don't you know? She's practically head of the GSA at our school. Not only that but…" He leaned over and whispered loudly at Kiku. "She has her own files, you know of men and men and women and women and all that. I've never really been one for that sort of thing myself but I never stopped her from taking a picture of me and Luddy. Don't tell him by the way I don't think he really knows…"

Kiku blushed a deeper shade of red. Ludwig pulled Feliciano off of him. "Feliciano! Go let Kiku see Alfred, we need to leave now anyway."

"Aw but why?" He whined and clung on to Ludwig's shirt.

"Because you're getting too nosy! Now come on, we can take the bus back."

"Aww, but Luddy!" He kind of tried to break free but Ludwig was lifting him up onto his shoulder.

Ludwig looked at Kiku. "I apologize for Feliciano's behavior. He's had quite a few beers tonight. It was nice seeing you Kiku. I hope we get to spend time together again soon."

Kiku nodded. "Yes I hope the same, and I wish you two luck on your ride home. Be safe."

With that Ludwig nodded curtly and left with Feliciano on his shoulder. Now Kiku had to look for Alfred. He walked through the crowd again. There were so many people here, he even thought he saw some teachers that went to his school. The younger ones anyway. He passed Gilbert again who was dancing on a table and giving out shots of vodka like a bartender, only he was also taking shots himself. Elizabeta wasn't nearby though, which might explain his current behavior. When she was around he seemed to try acting his best. He waved to Kiku as he passed by. Kiku waved back, hardly though.

Kiku had no idea where Alfred was. It was really hot in the house and Kiku was starting to get really frustrated. He decided to walk outside and send Alfred a text. At least outside there was fresh air. The opened the glass door only to find that outside wasn't much better. It stank of weed and other drugs that Kiku didn't know the smell of. There were a lot of people outside too, though not as many as inside thankfully. There was a swimming pool and it reflected blue onto the bricks of the surrounding patio. Kiku decided to go down by the grassy area and use his phone there.

Once again Kiku weaved his way through the various bodies, though this time it wasn't as difficult. He stepped out onto the grass. It was a little bit easier to breath here and the weed smell wasn't as strong. There were only maybe six or seven people this far out from what he could see. He went by some bushes and pulled his phone out. He was about to dial the number when he heard a voice that he couldn't mistake for anyone else's. He froze in place.

"Ouch! That hurt you fucking bastardo!" It was Lovino. "I don't know why I let you take me out here! We're going to get caught!"

"Lovi, we won't get caught. I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you." That was another voice that Kiku wouldn't mistake for another. It was Mr. Fernández Carriedo.

Kiku freaked out, he didn't want to hear anymore. He didn't want to think about what was behind the bushes and he didn't want to see it. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and jogged farther away. What a traumatizing night this had been for Kiku. When he felt that he'd gotten a safe distance away he pulled his phone out again and noticed that his hands were shaking. This time he dialed Alfred's number quickly.

"Hello?"

"Alfred where are you?"

"Inside, where have you been? I thought you said you'd be gone for a short time it's almost been an hour and a half."

"I know, I had trouble finding you."

"Oh, well I'm upstairs in someone's bedroom. There's no one in here and the music is quieter…"

"Alfred…"

"Kiku! We don't have to do anything up here unless you want to. But I'm not moving until you at least come find me."

Kiku sighed. "Tch fine. Which room are you in?"

"Second one to the left…or right. I don't remember. Second room to the left or right!"

"Alfred I think it would help if you knew that more specifically."

"Nah, I doubt you'll walk in on anything. You don't usually run into that stuff unless you're looking for it."

Kiku sighed heavily. "Okay I'll see you in a few minutes then."

"Great!" Alfred hung the phone up and Kiku sighed again. He turned around and looked at the house. It was so big, the guy throwing the party had to be some bored rich kid. That's what they did right? Luckily Kiku hadn't had any trouble with any bullies tonight. Alfred was right, any that he'd seen were drunk or high out of their mind and weren't really paying much attention to Kiku. With all the effort he could muster, he walked back into the loud house. As quickly as he could, Kiku made his way up the stairs and onto the second floor. He looked down the long hallway, contemplating if he should open the second door on the left or right. He decided to go with left because that was what Alfred had said first. He learned once that the answer you guess first is more likely to be right.

In Alfred's case he was wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong. Kiku walked down the hall and opened the second door to the left. In that moment Kiku thought that he might faint. Either way the image was seared into his mind, like a branding of a cattle prod. There in that room were Arthur and Francis. Arthur was up against the wall and had his leg around Francis, who was in-between kissing him and saying things like. "Je te aime" (I love you) or "vous êtes la lumière de mon monde" (you're the light of my world). Kiku didn't really want to know what he was saying. Arthur was gripping him and kissing him back, sometimes one of them moaned a little. The whole thing was really disgusting for Kiku.

Finally Arthur said it. "Just fuck me you git."

That was it for Kiku. He'd seen enough for now. He shut the door quietly and stood outside for a moment. His face buzzed. A very, very deep and dark side of him wanted to see. But most of him was fairly traumatized from seeing his two friends in such a way. Kiku thought back to what Feliciano said earlier about Elizabeta and wondered if she might be getting it all on camera. He shook the thought out of his head. All these people were so weird. How did he get mixed up in such a crowd? He rubbed his hands into his face and thought about Japan. How nice it would be to go back to such a place, where old, normal friends were. He took a few deep breaths and tried to think about nice things in America. The cars were nice, and he had Alfred. He tried to think of more but he couldn't really. Normally he would count his friends here but in this moment he didn't really want to think about them.

He took a final deep breath and took his hands away from his face. He stared at the room across from him. That was the room Alfred was in. He mustered his courage all over again, for maybe the third time tonight and walked inside. A sigh of relief escaped him, Alfred was there on the bed.

"Oh, hi Kiku!" He grinned and waved, but Kiku could see he was still somewhat nervous.

"Oh Alfred, thank God it's you." Kiku beamed and charged at Alfred. He hugged him

tightly. "I've heard and seen the most horrible things tonight!"

"Worse than a horror movie?"

"Much worse."

Alfred chuckled and petted Kiku's head. He gently kissed the top of it. "It's okay Kiku, I'm here now. Nothing more to worry about."

Kiku laughed weakly. "Yeah, yeah you're right." He hugged Alfred tighter and kissed

Alfred's chest. "I really wanted to find you."

"Well, you found me" Alfred brought Kiku's head up and gently kissed his lips. Kiku kissed

Alfred back. He brought his hands up into Alfred's hair. It lasted for maybe less than a second. Kiku Kissed Alfred again, this time the kiss was longer. He couldn't stop kissing Alfred. This is what he had missed yesterday. This was what he had to look forward to.

Alfred kissed him back.

They must've been in the room for at least an hour. Their clothes never came off but they spent the time exploring and kissing each other a lot. It wasn't until Alfred checked his watch that he pulled away from Kiku.

"Aw shit! Kiku, my parents wanted me home kind of early tonight I have to drive back."

Kiku was a little dazed. "Huh?"

Alfred stood up and grabbed Kiku's hand. "Come on! We have to get going, Kiku."

"Kiku rubbed his neck, he knew there were a few hickies there. "Alfred, wait for me." He said as Alfred rushed out the door and down the stairs. Kiku tried to keep up with him. "Alfred, please wait up!"

Alfred paused and turned around. He walked back to Kiku. "I-I'm sorry I just…I don't know what to do. My parents and…"

Kiku continued to walk. "No, it's fine you just caught me off guard. Alfred, I know your parents, they're nice. Let's go back."

Alfred nodded. "Okay, thanks."

They both walked to the car quickly. Alfred jumped in and so did Kiku, the music started and they rode home in silence. It wasn't unlike Kiku to be quiet, but it was unlike Alfred. Finally after a few minutes Alfred spoke. "My dad…he doesn't really like the whole idea of me going to these kinds of parties but…" he trailed off, obviously he didn't talk about this very often.

"Alfred, you don't have to tell me."

"No, I want to tell you, it's just that well the parties are the only time that I can…be with a boyfriend. Sometimes when my dad isn't home, but you understand me, right?"

Kiku nodded. "Yes, I do, I take it he didn't know…or doesn't know about any parties?"

Alfred shook his head. "No, that's why I can't stay very late."

"It's okay. Thank you for telling me."

"Well I care about you a lot so I want you to know."

Kiku blushed, he didn't really know what to say. He was really very grateful to Alfred for telling him but he didn't know if he could express that gratitude very well. The rest of the car ride was quiet. Alfred dropped Kiku off at home and with a quick kiss, he was back inside of his own home feeling more tired than he remembered being. It wasn't long before he collapsed onto his bed. He didn't bother changing, he just laid on his bed and shut his eyes. It wasn't long before he fell asleep either, and he was dreaming of Alfred.

The next few months went by really fast. It was a lot of the same patterns. Alfred and Kiku would rehearse for the play. 'Rehearsals' were mostly just a lot of kissing in Alfred or Kiku's bedroom. Their relationship was a lot of kissing for the first few weeks, actually. Then it calmed down. They learned more about each other and grew to be very close, practically inseparable. The only times they were apart was when Alfred went out with his football friends and when Kiku was out with Ludwig and Feliciano. Sometimes Francis, Arthur, Alfred, and Kiku would all go out together. That was fun most of the time. For the most part though, there was school work to focus on. Sometimes Kiku would go to parties with Alfred, it really fell into a pattern of about every two weeks. Each time they'd go a little farther with their intimacy. For Christmas, Alfred had given Kiku an _I Love New York _tee shirt and Kiku had given Alfred a bento box for his own snacks. Arthur had given Francis some sort of wine that he heard was good and Francis gifted Arthur a cookbook. Though Kiku had heard that Arthur smacked him pretty hard with it. Ludwig gave Feliciano a really beautiful ring and Feliciano cooked Ludwig a dinner and gave him some nice Italian shoes. Gilbert gave Elizabeta a new frying pan. She was so disappointed that she hit him with it until he revealed that he'd also gotten her a pearl necklace. Elizabeta had gotten him a little yellow bird that he of course named after himself and began taking everywhere with him. It may have been the most annoying gift given this Christmas. After break and school started again, the teachers all started to really crack down, knowing that they had a deadline coming up. The school play would go on in April and May and the sets were already being built. Actors were getting fitted for costumes and so on. It really wasn't until February though until things began to really change again.

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><p><strong>Hi guys I just wanted to say thank you once again for all the favorites, likes and reviews. I'm glad you like my story and I hope you continue to read it. This was another sort of short chapter but the next one is a really big one! (I always plan my stories out before writing them). Anyway I hope you enjoy it and have a fabulous week! <strong>

**M.O. **


	6. Chapter 6 Uh Oh

**Hey guys, I just want to make a quick note before your read this chapter. There is some pretty bad stuff that's said here and so I'm just warning you if you get offended by that easily. I personally don't support it, but just keep in mind that it's part of the story.**

**M.O. **

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><p>Chapter 6 Uh-Oh<p>

It was February 11th and Kiku was ecstatic. Several months had passed and he and Alfred were still together. They enjoyed each other's company and spent a lot of time with one another. It was Kiku's dream, now today was finally his birthday. Alfred said that he'd gotten some things for him. Kiku didn't usually have a birthday party, and his friends in Japan usually forgot when his birthday was. It was almost weird for Kiku to have someone that wasn't his mom or dad give him a gift. But it was a good weird, Kiku was really excited. He walked into his first period and took a deep breath. Before he could say something to Alfred, Mr. Densen hopped in front of him.

"Good morning, Kiku."

Kiku frowned, Mr. Densen had been unusually mean to him over the past few weeks. Maybe he'd caught on to how happy Kiku had been and he just really wanted to drive his needle in.

"Hello Mr. Densen." Kiku looked down.

"I heard," He tried to make eye contact with Kiku. "That today is your birthday."

"It is."

"That's great, Kiku." He grinned, causing a rush of concern to wash through Kiku.

"Yeah, uh thanks, Mr. Densen." Kiku tried to step out of the way, but Mr. Densen stepped in front of him again.

"Do you know what that means Kiku?"

"Uhh, not really?" Kiku furrowed his brows together, he couldn't think of any time when Mr. Densen had done anything for anyone's birthday before in his class.

"It means that you're going to be the star for today." _Oh no_.

"What do you mean, Mr. Densen?"

"I mean that you're going to go up for every single thing I tell you to go up for. That way you can showcase your talents for the class."

"You've never done this to anyone before."

"No, you're right. I just think you're very special."

"Well, what if I don't want to.

"That's not your choice."

Kiku frowned. He stepped away from Mr. Densen and went to sit in his seat. His birthday was off to a bad start. Alfred fidgeted in his seat.

"Hey, what was Mr. Densen talking to you about?" He leaned over and asked.

Kiku scowled. "He's gonna make me perform a lot today."

"What? But it's your birthday!"

"I know. That's why he's saying he's gonna do it."

"That's completely unfair!"

Kiku just shook his head and scoffed. "I should have expected it from him." Alfred fidgeted again. "Why are you so fidgety today?" Kiku put his head on his desk and asked.

Alfred smiled nervously. "Well I was just thinking about your birthday gift."

"My gift? Do you have it with you?"

"Well I do, but I was actually just thinking. Could I give it to you at my house after school?

I kinda want you to open it just with me."

"Oh," Kiku was surprised. "Yeah sure, that's fine."

Alfred grinned. "Great!"

Mr. Densen walked to the front of the classroom and clapped his hands together. "Alright class, let's begin, shall we?"

Lunch couldn't come fast enough for Kiku. He was having a terrible birthday. Probably the worst birthday he's had in a long time. Mr. Densen had made a complete fool of him in drama. He knew that Kiku couldn't really act. He had Kiku do improv, games, and some random exercises that Kiku was sure he'd just made up. After that, Kiku had been so frustrated that he'd failed his pop quiz in English class, Miss Arlovskaya hit him for not paying attention because he had been thinking about the bad test and how angry his parents would be. He rubbed the sore spot and frowned. He hadn't even seen Ludwig or Feliciano in passing period.

Quickly as he could, Kiku made his way over to his usual lunch table. No one was there yet. No Arthur, Francis, Ludwig, Feliciano, Gilbert, Elizabeta, or Alfred. He plopped down on the bench and pulled his lunch out. He had made little candies to give his friends but no one was there. He pulled the bag of candies out and stared at them. Maybe all the friendships had been an illusion. He opened his lunch box. Today his mother had packed his lunch. Kiku's mother always packed his lunch on his birthday. She'd left a note inside. _Happy birthday, my love! I hope it goes well! _Kiku scowled and crumpled up the note. Shoving it in his pocket. He appreciated the gesture of his mother leaving the note, however he was having such a bad day that he couldn't bear to look at it. He picked at his lunch for about five minutes until he heard some very loud whispering coming up from behind him.

"Don't drop, it you clumsy oaf! I put a lot of work into making that."

"You know I could have made it!"

"My ass you could have made it! I think I'd rather just let you carry it."

"If you're so worried about it why don't you just carry it yourself? Bloody Frog!"

"Because I wanted you to feel like you helped."

"Please, you're just a lazy French bastard."

"Watch your mouth, you black sheep!"

"Shut up, we're getting close!"

The voices stopped. Kiku thought he heard some slapping noises too but he couldn't be sure. There was no denying it was Francis and Arthur but he couldn't even think to imagine what they were up to. He continued to pick at his lunch until they appeared in front of him. Both of them had these weird smirks on their faces. Arthur didn't smile often, when he did though it was either fairly adorable or pure evil-looking. Today it ventured toward the pure evil side. Francis looked just straight-out devious.

Kiku took a deep breath. "Hello."

The two of them looked at one another. "Kiku, today is your birthday, non ?" Francis asked.

"Yes it is my birthday, thank you for remembering. Would you like a candy?" He tapped the bag of candy and pushed it toward them a little. "I made it for you guys and the others."

"Maybe in a bit, because first we have something for you."

"Have something for me? You didn't have to get me anything, I'm actually fairly relieved you have shown up."

Francis and Arthur looked pained for a second. Arthur spoke. "No, Kiku we wanted to get you something! We worked really hard on it."

Francis cleared his throat. "I worked really hard on it."

Arthur glared at him. "_We _worked hard on it."

"Okay, sure. You did _so _much Arthur…!"

"I swear Frog I'm going to-"

Kiku didn't want to listen to the arguing now. "You guys. What is it?"

Both of them froze, Arthur revealed a cake from behind his back. In that moment Kiku had really hoped that it was just Francis who had worked on it. Though Arthur looked fairly smug. "We baked it just for you."

"Yeah! Happy birthday Kiku!" Francis grinned and sat down as Arthur put the cake down.

Kiku looked at it, it wasn't a very big cake but he didn't care. No one had ever baked him a cake before, only his mother and that wasn't even on every birthday. He blinked back tears of happiness. It had some frosting on it and it looked like it was chocolate. _Happy Birthday Kiku _was written out in really nice cursive script. "Ar-Ar-thank you!" Kiku finally blurted out. "Really thank you! This means a lot to me! L-Let's all share it."

"Kiku you don't have to share it with us." Arthur smiled at him.

"No, I want to! Please, let me go get some forks."

"Well if you insist Kiku, let me get the forks at least Kiku." Francis started to get up but Kiku stopped him.

"No, really let me get them!" He stood up quickly. "I really feel like it would be right." He hurriedly went over by the lunch lines. There was a place where they had forks, knives, spoons, straws, napkins and condiments. He walked over to the grey container with the silverware in it and grabbed four forks. Maybe if Alfred stopped by he could have some cake too. Kiku promptly made his way back over to the table and was surprised to find that Feliciano and Ludwig were there too.

Feliciano ran up to him and hugged him. "Ve~ happy birthday Kiku!" He quickly kissed Kiku on both cheeks and handed him a small gift.

"What's this?" Kiku asked, taking the gift and shaking it a bit.

"Your birthday gift, of course!"

"Can I open it now?"

"Of course~!"

Kiku carefully unwrapped the gift. It was a box of Italian food. Obviously made by Feliciano. There was pizza, pasta, some salad. Kiku had mixed feelings about it. "Wow, Feliciano did you make his for me?"

Feliciano nodded. "Yeah of course I did! I think my food is some of the best and you haven't tried it yet!"

"Thank you Feliciano, you're giving me a gift means a lot. Thank you for remembering my birthday. You know I've made some candies on the lunch table if you'd like to take one."

"Candies?" Feliciano's face lit up. "Sure I'd love one!" He happily skipped over to the lunch table and grabbed a few from inside the bag.

Ludwig approached Kiku and held out a gift as well. "Happy birthday, Kiku."

"Another gift?" Kiku set Feliciano's gift down and took Ludwig's. "Can I open this one now too?"

"I don't see why not." Kiku smiled and blinked back more tears. He opened this gift carefully as well. Kiku didn't really like to destroy paper. It was a coo-coo clock. "I made it myself."

Kiku's eyes widened. "You made it yourself? Wow! This is really well done! I mean really…" Kiku inspected the clock though there was nary a flaw. "Incredible, there isn't one mistake."

Ludwig blushed a little. "_Danke_, I mean- thank you. It's really just a hobby of mine."

"Well I really like it!"

Ludwig brightened. "Thank you!"

"Do you want some candy? I've made it myself, it's sitting near my lunchbox."

"Um sure! Thank you Kiku."

"Of course."

Kiku smiled and put his gifts down by his lunch box. He went to sit down but before he could he felt someone tap his shoulder. He couldn't mistake the laugh for any other. "Kesesesese, hey kleiner Japanische Mann. I have a gift for you and it's way better than some dumb clock."

Kiku turned around only to find Gilbert and Elizabeta behind him. He smiled. "Oh? You have a gift too? I wasn't expecting such kindness…"

"Please, you don't need to thank the Awesome me and kindness just comes naturally. I am after all the greatest and most-"

Elizabeta elbowed him. "Gilbert, shut up, you're doing it again."

Gilbert winced and glanced at her. "What? Oh, um sorry. Here you go." He held out a roundish gift for Kiku. "Happy birthday! It's from the both of us!"

Kiku took it and found it was very soft. "_Arigato_. I mean- thank you! If you want some candy I made it's in a bag by my lunch."

Gilbert instantly brightened. "Candy!? Awesome! Kesesese" He floated over to the bag and took a bunch.

Elizabeta patted Kiku on the shoulder. "Happy birthday, Kiku, I hope you like the gift."

Kiku gave her a small bow and she went to join Gilbert by the candy. Kiku opened his gift to find that it was a small circular pillow with a face that sort of resembled his own. It was cute. Carefully Kiku put the gifts into his backpack so they wouldn't get crushed. He then sat down in front of his lunch and smiled. Everyone who he cared about was here. Well, except Alfred. He couldn't help but wonder where Alfred might be. He knew that he was going over to Alfred's house after school today, but that didn't excuse the fact that he was nowhere to be found. It usually didn't matter if Kiku was going over or if Alfred was coming to his house, he always showed up at lunch. Still, all his friends had been so nice. He wasn't going to let Alfred's absence bring the day down. He ate his lunch happily and joked with his friends. Eventually Francis, Arthur and Kiku all started to dig into the cake. It was chocolate, and really delicious too. It wasn't until the last five minutes of lunch that Alfred showed up. Gilbert and Elizabeta had already gone and Ludwig and Feliciano were about a seat away. Lovino had showed up and mumbled a happy birthday to Kiku, but was really more interested in seeing his brother.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" He sat down next to Kiku and leaned into him a bit. "Oh, hey, cake!"

"Do you want some?" Kiku asked and handed him the unused fork. There wasn't that much of the cake left but it was a decent portion. Francis was still watching his weight, Arthur didn't have good sugar very often so too much made him sick, and Kiku had eaten his whole lunch before starting the cake so he was already fairly full and didn't eat that much.

"Heck yes, I want some!" Alfred took the fork and dug into the cake with gusto. "Fanks Kikoo!" He said with a mouthful of cake. "Happy birfday again by teh waee."

Kiku smiled. "Thank you, I've also made some candies for everyone. If you'd like the rest you can have them…" He handed Alfred the bag, whose eyes were now wide.

He swallowed the bit of cake in his mouth. "Woah! Kiku thanks! I feel like it's _my_ birthday!" He laughed and shoved the candies into his backpack.

Kiku smiled. He liked to make Alfred happy. Arthur and Francis were looking at them funny, but they didn't really say anything. Kiku turned back to Alfred. "I'm meeting you by the stop sign after school right?"

Alfred nodded. "Yeah totally, where else would we meet?"

Kiku shrugged. "I don't know I was just making sure."

"Well that's where we're meeting." Alfred smiled and bumped Kiku's shoulder with his own. "Don't be late~!"

Kiku smiled. "I won't be, don't worry about me."

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!"

"Me too." Kiku tried hard not to blush, but he was sure a light one came through. The bell rang and everyone started to pack up their backpacks.

Alfred looked at the cake. "Hey can I take this, since you won't finish it?"

Kiku smiled. "Sure, go ahead. It was really delicious."

"Thanks Kiku, you're the best!" Alfred took the platter and leaned in to kiss him, though then remembering that he was in a public place stopped and just bumped him with his chest instead. "See you later bro!" He said and jogged off to his next class. Kiku slowly packed his things up as well and walked to his own class.

The rest of the school day went quite a bit happier than the beginning of the day had. It breezed by for Kiku, actually. He waited for Alfred impatiently by the stop sign. He was on time and after Alfred had said to be on time now he, himself, was late. It was kind of ironic actually. Finally Kiku heard Alfred's footsteps from behind him.

"Sorry, Kiku! I really had to go to the bathroom!"

Kiku turned around and rocked back on his heels. He looked up at Alfred. "It's okay, I just thought…well I don't know what I thought. I'm happy you're finally here though."

Alfred grinned. "Let's get to my house! Both my parents are out for the day, my dad has some work emergency and my mom had to go buy new groceries."

Kiku began to walk and Alfred followed. "How do you know your mom will be out grocery shopping?"

"Well I may have had a hand in cleaning out the fridge, and telling her that I _really _wanted a few things."

Kiku's mouth formed a small 'o' shape. "Alfred F. Jones you're devious!"

Alfred laughed and looked at Kiku. He licked his lips. "Well now we can be as loud as we want~!"

Kiku pushed him a little. "Quiet down."

Alfred only laughed and started to talk about Superman again. "You know what's so great about Superman?" It was another "you know what's so great about Superman?" conversation.

"That he's a hero?"

"Well yes, but that isn't what I was going to say."

Kiku raised his eyebrows a bit. "Oh, really? What's so great about Superman then?"

"That he has two identities."

"I don't really understand. You're going to have to elaborate."

"Well I mean like sometimes he's Clark Kent and sometimes he's Superman. Just like sometimes I try to act like a regular heterosexual male in school, but when I'm with you after school I really get to be myself and I get to be your hero." He grinned at Kiku. "So in a way, I'm like Superman, right?"

"You know, the same could be said for me." Kiku shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked at Alfred.

"Yeah but, you're not involved in as much as I am!"

"Oh, what's that supposed to mean? I'm not as popular?"

"That's not what I meant Kiku. I just wanted to talk about Superman."

Kiku frowned. "Let's drop it, it's my birthday today." Kiku hated pulling cards like this one but he really didn't want to fight on his birthday. Kiku and Alfred had fought a few times and it usually wasn't pretty. It never got too serious though, they never broke up. Kiku just didn't like fighting so he tried to avoid it as best he could. Sometimes Alfred could be so stubborn though, the fights then just couldn't be helped.

They reached Alfred's house fairly quickly. As soon as the door was shut both boys kicked off their shoes and charged upstairs into Alfred's bedroom. After that first time Kiku had come over, Alfred had never really bothered to clean his room up much for Kiku anymore. Though Kiku couldn't help but tidy up a little on his own, Alfred always stopped him. Like today, there were clothes strewn about the room and his bed was unmade. A poster had begun to fall off the wall and some of the things on his dresser were knocked down. Not to mention he had food wrappers and bottles of water everywhere too. Kiku put the poster back up and began to pick up some of the clothing.

"Alfred, you should really tidy up in here more often."

Alfred sat on his bed and crossed his legs. "Aw, come on, Kiku! You sound like my mother! It's your birthday I want to give you your gift…"

"I won't be able to do anything until it's at least a little neater in here." Kiku dropped a pile of clothing into Alfred's laundry basket. He then began to pick up the rest of the clothes.

"You should pick up after yourself. It's not healthy to sleep in such an environment."

"It's perfectly fine!"

"Alfred I'd like to enjoy my gift and not have to think about the mess." He dropped another pile of clothing into the laundry basket.

Alfred got up. "Okay, okay, okay. Let me pick the mess up alright? You sit and open your gift and I'll pick it up."

"Really?" Alfred almost never offered to do something like this.

"Yes really! Just open your gift."

Kiku went over to Alfred's backpack. "Well where is it?"

"It's right on top of all my books." Alfred had begun to pick up the empty water bottles and food containers and throw them in the trash bin.

Kiku opened Alfred's backpack and saw that there was something flat and soft on top of all the haphazardly placed books. They were all out of order to Kiku, who kept his organized from biggest to smallest. Alfred's books, on the other hand, had just been thrown randomly into his backpack. There was no order to them at all. He picked it up and sat down on the edge of Alfred's bed. He opened it gingerly, trying his best not to rip the paper.

"I hope you like it." Alfred said suddenly. He'd just thrown the rest of the trash into the garbage can and sat down next to Kiku.

"I know I'll like it." Kiku smiled and Alfred leaned behind him as he pulled it out of the wrapping paper. It was a red, white and blue kimono. Kiku's eyes widened. He'd never gotten such a nice gift in all his life. "Oh Alfred." He said as he held it up to get a better look at it.

Alfred scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Do you like it? I wasn't sure what size you were…"

Kiku grinned. "Like it? I love it! It looks perfect!"

"Really? That's such a relief!" Alfred threw himself back on the bed and Kiku put the kimono away in his backpack.

"I'm going to put it here with my other gifts because I don't want it to get destroyed."

Alfred nodded and sat up. "That makes sense."

Kiku went back over and joined him on the bed again after zipping his backpack back up. "So what now?"

Alfred grinned at him. "Well I did say both my parents were out."

Kiku scoffed. "You're always so straightforward with such things."

Alfred held Kiku by the waist and kissed his neck. "It can be part of your gift!"

Kiku chuckled and brought Alfred's face in front of his own. He kissed Alfred on the lips. Alfred grinned and kissed him back. It wasn't long until Kiku felt Alfred's tongue slide along the edge of Kiku's lower lip. Kiku opened his mouth and let Alfred spring his tongue into his mouth. Kiku gripped Alfred's hair and flitted his own tongue across Alfred's. Both of their eyes were closed. Alfred pulled Kiku in closer. After a minute Alfred pulled away and looked at Kiku.

"Kiku, I…I love you."

"What?" Kiku's eyes grew big. "You love me?"

Alfred pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do."

Tears pricked in Kiku's eyes. "I-I think I love you too."

Alfred's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" Kiku smiled brightly and kissed Alfred. "I really love you."

Alfred continued to smile and kissed down Kiku's neck again. His nose stopped when it reached Kiku's shirt. Kiku froze.

"Can I?" Alfred asked. In all the months they'd been together, they'd never been naked, let alone shirtless, together.

Kiku swallowed and nodded. "B-But you too…"

Alfred looked down at himself and nodded also. Kiku had never gone this far with anyone before and he wasn't sure if Alfred had either. It was all really awkward. He thought back to when he'd caught Arthur and Francis the one time at the party. How had they made it look so easy and natural? Kiku pursed his lips and watched Alfred take his shirt off. He stared at his chest. It was toned and somewhat tan. Kiku blushed substantially. He began to feel self-conscious of his own pale, non-robust chest. Reluctantly, he lifted his arms up and Alfred took his jacket and shirt off. They both sat there awkwardly for a moment just staring at each other. Slowly, Kiku touched Alfred's chest. Alfred smiled and leaned in, he began to kiss Kiku again. Only this time he was a little more aggressive. So was Kiku. Alfred gently brought Kiku down on the bed so that he was straddling him. Kiku wrapped a leg around Alfred as he began to kiss down Kiku's chest and stomach.

They'd never gone this far before. Kiku could feel that he was getting hard and Alfred was close enough to him that he could feel Alfred getting hard too. Alfred's face got closer and closer to Kiku's belt. He even tugged on Kiku's pants a little. Kiku arched his back as Alfred continued to kiss him. There was panting and moaning, but they never heard the door open and close from downstairs. They never heard the footsteps coming up the stairs and they didn't hear the door to Alfred's bedroom open.

It wasn't until the voice of Alfred's father spoke that both of them froze. Alfred was as pale as a ghost. "Alfred F. Jones, what the _fuck _do you think you're doing?"

Alfred slowly turned to his father and inched away from Kiku. "D-Dad?"

Alfred's father was angry, he was more than angry. Kiku had never seen someone react like this to something before. His whole face was red, and blue veins popped out of his forehead and neck. He started shouting at Alfred. "Don't you talk to me with that filthy mouth of yours!" He hit Alfred. He hit Alfred hard.

"Dad please-!" But Alfred's dad didn't stop.

He kept hitting Alfred and cursing at him. "You think behavior like that is acceptable in this house?! How long has this been going on?! My son is not a faggot! I don't raise sissy boys!"

"Dad!" There were tears coming out of Alfred's eyes.

His father kept smacking him, though. "I said not to open your dirty mouth!" He kicked him again.

Kiku tried to help. He tried to jump in and pull Alfred's father off of him. "Please, Mr. Jones! It's not Alfred's fault! Please stop!"

Alfred's father tossed Kiku to the side however, and spit on him. He continued to swing at Alfred. "Don't touch me! You ought to leave this house! And if I see you again, you'll be sorry!"

"Kiku, leave!" Alfred shouted hoarsely.

"No, I can't leave you here, like this! I should call the police!" Kiku ran up and tried to pull Alfred's father off of him again but he was just tossed aside again.

"Kiku, you'll get more hurt than me, just _go!"_

Kiku was crying. "I don't want to leave you like this!"

"Please, _get out!"_

Kiku wanted to help Alfred. To pull his father off of him and hit him back but he knew he couldn't. As quickly as he could Kiku gathered up his things and bolted downstairs. The sounds of Alfred getting hit by his father echoed in his mind. He tried to get his cell phone out of his pocket but he couldn't get a grip on it. He kept running all the way to the front door, pausing for a moment to see if Alfred's father had stopped rapping him. He could still hear those horrible noises. Kiku threw open the front door and ran down the stoop. He saw Alfred's mother pulling in and waved her down.

"What's the matter, Kiku?" She said as she rolled her window down. "Did you get into another fight? What happened to your shirt? Are you crying?" Mrs. Jones looked concerned.

Kiku tried to wipe the tears away from his eyes but they wouldn't stop flowing. "M-Mrs. Jones, y-your husband. He came home while Alfred and I were- I think Alfred is really hurt. He won't stop hitting him."

"Oh my God." Mrs. Jones turned the car off and ran inside. Kiku heard a lot of screaming. He didn't want to leave Alfred but he was scared, and he ran. He couldn't stop crying, though. No matter how hard he tried, the tears just wouldn't stop. To Kiku it had seemed like the whole event had happened in slow motion. Kiku kept running, he ran until he couldn't anymore and he collapsed on the sidewalk. Weakly, he pulled himself into the grass and put his shirt and jacket back on. He felt absurd without them on. He took that moment to just lay on the grass and think about what happened. Why hadn't he called the police? He couldn't now, he had no evidence against Alfred's father. He thought about texting Alfred, but he was too scared to. So he just laid on the grass and cried. Some birthday this had turned out to be.

Kiku stayed there until it got dark. He never got hungry and he only moved at least once. Finally he figured that he would have to go home and he didn't know what school tomorrow was going to be like. He got up slowly, his whole body felt heavy. Kiku dragged his backpack to the nearest bus stop and took the bus back to his neighborhood. He dragged himself home as if there were weights on his feet. Kiku walked into his house and set his backpack by the stairs. He had left his shoes at Alfred's house and just noticed now. Quietly, he walked into the kitchen. His mother was there. She saw that he had a few bruises.

"Kiku! What happened to you?" She came over and inspected his face.

He looked away from her. "I fell down the stairs at school, it's not a big deal mother." He pulled away from her and sat down at the table.

She sat across from him. "You always say that. Did you have a good birthday though?"

Kiku forced a smile and nodded with the best effort that he could. "Yeah, all my friends gave me gifts and two of them even baked me a cake."

His mother looked surprised. "A cake! Wow! Well I guess that will make two for the day then." She smiled and brought out the strawberry shortcake that she had made. It was Kiku's favorite.

Kiku's father walked in. "Ah, I see we're going to celebrate!" he looked at Kiku. "Kiku what happened to you, are you alright?"

Kiku nodded tiredly. "Hai, I just…fell down the stairs at school."

"Oh, you should be more careful next time!" He smiled and patted Kiku on the shoulder.

"Maybe it's just those old shoes you have."

"Yeah, maybe." Kiku shrugged and looked at his mother. "Can we start now mother? I'm really tired and I'd like to go to bed."

"Yes, we can." She leaned forward and lit the candles on the cake. "Now then, make a wish Kiku."

"And make sure it's a good one." His father added.

Kiku shut his eyes and thought. _I wish that Alfred is alright._

He blew out the candles and opened his eyes again. His parents smiled and clapped, which brought a small smile out of him.

"And now for your gifts!" His father beamed.

"Gifts?" Usually Kiku only got one gift for his birthday.

"Well we figured since this year hasn't been all that easy on you, we wanted to get you more than one gift this year. So we got you two."

"Wow!" Kiku was genuinely surprised.

"Okay, first gift. I picked this one out." His father grinned and walked out of the kitchen. While he was gone, Kiku's mother cut Kiku a small slice of cake. He ate it lazily. After he was about halfway through the slice his father returned with a wrapped box. He set it down in front of Kiku and motioned for him to open it. Like he'd done with the other gifts, Kiku opened it carefully trying not to rip the wrapping. When he opened it, he discovered it was a new pair of sneakers. No wonder his father had made the odd comment earlier.

"Thanks, dad!" He said, and hugged them to his chest. This ended up being one less thing to worry about for Kiku now, considering he'd left his old pair at Alfred's.

His mother got up from her seat. "And I have your next gift." She grinned and pulled an envelope out of a cookie jar. "Your father and I figured that since you've found such good people like Alfred to spend time with, we thought it might be fun if you two went to a concert together."

She held the envelope out and Kiku took it, he tried to control his hands from shaking.

Slowly he opened the envelope and inside were two tickets for a concert that was going on in a few months. Kiku's mouth went dry. "Th-Thank you mom, and dad. These gifts are really wonderful." He felt tears coming to his eyes again. "I wish I could stay around and celebrate like I usually do but, I'm really tired. Is it okay if I just go to bed?"

Both of his parents smiled at him understandingly. "Yes. Don't worry about the dishes tonight. It's your birthday, so go get some rest."

Kiku nodded and walked upstairs gradually. When he got to his room he collapsed on his bed and sobbed. He cried and cried until he finally fell asleep.

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><p><strong>Well that was it, this is a really big chapter! I was nervous about uploading this one... Anyway tell me what you think because I'd love to hear some feedback. You guys are great. <strong>

**I hope you have a great week. **

**M.O.**


	7. Chapter 7 The Fight

Chapter 7. The Fight

Thursday, Kiku walked in to school with his new sneakers on. He sat down at his desk and noticed that Alfred wasn't there yet. He was hoping Alfred was okay. He had been early though, Mr. Densen smiled at him. Or smiled at his bruises to be more specific. About five minutes before the bell would ring Alfred walked in. He took his usual spot next to Kiku but didn't look at him. He had a black eye and cuts all over his face. The rest of his body was also scraped and bruised. Kiku bit his lower lip.

"Alfred, are you okay?" Kiku leaned over and asked.

Alfred sneered at him. "Fuck off."

Kiku was confused. "What?"

"I said fuck off!"

"I heard you, but I don't understand why! All I did was ask if you were alright..." Kiku whispered. "I care about you." He balled his hands into fists. Kiku was frustrated and Alfred was obviously angry.

"Care about me? Sure you do, that's why you let this happen." Alfred scoffed and ran his hands through his hair. He winced a bit.

"Alfred, what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? This is all your fault that's what I mean!"

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"It was because of you that I was kissing you, and because of you that I said I love you and it was your fault that my dad caught us and caused him to beat me up! If I'd never met you this sort of thing wouldn't have happened! So fuck off!"

Kiku couldn't believe what he was hearing. Alfred was delusional." You can't mean that!"

"Well I do, so get away from me."

"Alfred…"

"Stop talking to me Kiku!" His eyes were set and he looked at Kiku dead on. "We're over."

Tears pricked in Kiku's eyes. He was sad and angry. "Over? Alfred you're not-"

Alfred cut him off. "Leave me alone, before I ask to change seats." He wasn't looking at Kiku anymore. He just looked forward angrily. His jaw was thrust forward and his lips were tight. Kiku sniffed and turned away from Alfred. He was so confused. Why would Alfred act this way? Mr. Densen saw that Kiku was distraught. He smiled.

As the day progressed Kiku became angrier and angrier. He was mad at Alfred, and in passing period he'd heard that Alfred was spreading some rumor saying that he got his bruises fighting someone in a parking lot. Someone that had tried to attack and rob him. That made Kiku angrier. Feliciano and Ludwig had asked Kiku how he got the bruises, but he was too mad to talk to them. He had really just mumbled that he'd fallen down the stairs and continued to walk. On one hand he wanted to cry again, but he was tired of crying. He was more angry than sad. Relationships weren't just supposed to end like that. The worst of it was that someone had leaked to the whole school that he was gay. The bullying was getting bad again. People were shoving and pushing him in passing. Spitting on him and making fun of him for keeping it secret in the first place. He knew that his friends wouldn't leak such a thing, they had no malice toward him. There was only one person who was looking for such revenge and that would be Alfred. By lunch he was fuming. He was hurt and angry and he wasn't really paying attention to his environment. He just wanted to sit down, eat his lunch and finish the day.

On his way to the table, he walked past Alfred's table with the football players at it. One of them stood up. "Hey pretty boy."

Kiku tensed and turned around. "What do you want?"

The boy smirked and looked at his friends. Alfred was the only one not looking at Kiku. He was staring at his lunch. The boy quickly raised his arms and pushed him down on the ground. "That's where you belong, with the rest of the trash." A crowd was gathering around.

Kiku scowled and got up, he didn't approach the boy, but instead approached Alfred. He figured that this might be a good opportunity. "Don't you have anything to say?"

Alfred scowled. "Shove off, faggot."

Kiku lost it. He lunged at Alfred. He hit him twice before two other players pulled him away. He was kicking and crying again and Alfred walked up to him. Kiku scowled and spit at him. "What if I told everyone how you really got hurt?" He smiled a bit crookedly, and tears still streamed down his face.

Alfred's scowl deepened. He got close to Kiku and snarled. "Don't cross me." Kiku kicked around in the grip of the two other boys. They held him tighter. Alfred punched Kiku in the stomach a few times. Kiku's legs went weak, he wanted to double over but the boys held him up.

Kiku tried not to cry more. He looked at Alfred, whose face was a stone wall. "Why don't you fight like a real man?"

A look of pain passed over Alfred's eyes for a split second. Perhaps it had been something his father said to him yesterday. At this point though, Kiku wanted to hurt Alfred as badly as Alfred was hurting him. It was as if Alfred had never cared at all in this moment. Alfred snarled. "Real men don't need to fight to win all their battles." He looked at the two players holding Kiku and nodded, he then turned his back.

"The Fairy thinks he wants to fight? Why don't we let him try...?" One of the guys said and let go of his arm.

The other one of them snickered and let go of Kiku's other arm. Kiku brushed himself off. "Come on Rainbow Boy, show us what you've got." About five or so players began to surround Kiku.

He was angry though, fuming. It brought him back to those days when he had been a bully. He was going to fight until he couldn't move anymore. One of the players went to throw a punch but Kiku was focused. He used to take jiu jitsu and the training came flooding back to him. Kiku caught the guy's fist and everything after that was a blur. He remembered hitting a lot of people, and he remembered Alfred never turning around and him feeling hurt, he remembered trying to get to Alfred but a wall of athletes stood in his way, and he remembered getting hit a few times himself.

When Kiku woke up he was in the infirmary. His head hurt. He looked over to his side but there was just a curtain that had been drawn. The details wouldn't come to him. He sat up slowly and hung over the front of the nurses bed. The nurses office was a few feet away, the walls were just big windows. She was typing something out on her computer, though she saw Kiku in a matter of minutes and came around to talk to him.

"I see you're up again." Her lips were tight and she distanced herself from him.

Kiku rubbed his head. "What happened?"

The nurse flared her nostrils. "What happened? You almost beat three boys too death. Two of them had to be sent to the hospital. If the authorities hadn't come to break you all up I don't know what would have happened." She shook her head. "They brought you in here and you had this…crazed look in your eye. I had to give you a sedative and call your mother."

Kiku's heart felt like it had dropped into his stomach. "My mother?"

"Yes, she'd said something about you having this problem a long time ago. She said it was more under control though, or so she thought."

"I-I blacked out. I'm usually…much more under control of such a behavior."

"Well, you're going to have to speak with the principal so long as you're feeling alright now."

Kiku rubbed his face. "Of course, I understand."

The nurse came over slowly. "Just, let me take your temperature and make sure your cuts are alright."

Kiku nodded and let the nurse stick a thermometer in his mouth. While that was there she replaced his bandages and put on new disinfectant. After a minute she took the thermometer out. She told Kiku that he didn't have a fever and that he should gather up his things and go down to the principals' office now. That's just what he did, too. Though very slowly. He knew what was coming when he got there and he didn't really want to face it. He put his jacket on really slowly, mostly because that's where he must've gotten his the most and that's where it hurt the most. He'd already been sort of bruised from Alfred's father yesterday and the new injuries didn't help. He wasn't planning on putting his backpack on his back. Instead he'd just carry it. Gingerly he put his lunch box back inside and zipped it closed. Now he was ready to go.

Kiku stepped out from behind the curtain. Three of the boys from the fight were taking up the other three beds. There were only four in the nurse's office. The boys looked like they had been hurt much worse than Kiku had. He turned away quickly, not wanting to think about what he might've done. Quickly he exited the nurse and into the hallway. Kids immediately started whispering and pointing. He felt uncomfortable. They were jumping out of his way it seemed as he walked down the hall, it was as if the kids were afraid of him. Better than them poking fun, Kiku figured.

He walked into the main office and saw Alfred there. Alfred wouldn't look at Kiku in the eye and Kiku didn't feel angry at him any longer. All the anger had drained from him, it seemed, in the fight. He felt sorry for Alfred and he felt sad that he couldn't be with him. He glared at Alfred though, not because there was any hint of anger, but that he wanted Alfred to at least acknowledge him again. Before Kiku could sit down, the secretary called him over.

"You are Kiku Honda I presume? We've just received a call from the nurse that you were headed over."

Kiku nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"Glad to see you're feeling better." The lady smiled. "Mr. Braginsky wanted to see you as soon as you came in so, I'll let him know you're coming." The secretary picked up her phone and began to dial a number.

Kiku swayed back on his heels. "Which way is his office again?"

The lady paused in mid-dial. "It's just down this hall; the door at the end of the hallway."

Kiku licked his bottom lip. "Alright. Thank you, ma'am."

The secretary just smiled at him as he began to walk down the hall. Before he entered Mr. Braginsky's room, Kiku paused for a moment. He wasn't sure he wanted to go through the door, but if he ran away, the consequences would be much worse. Kiku took a shaky breath. He reached out slowly and opened the door. Mr. Braginsky was at his desk, smiling in the way that made Kiku feel fear all the way down to his toes.

"Please, have a seat." Mr. Braginsky said, and motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk. Kiku walked inside with care. There was a large vase of sunflowers sitting on Mr. Braginsky's desk and he was still wearing the same scarf that he had been wearing when Kiku had seen him in the summer time. Maybe he really did never take it off Once Kiku was seated, the principal turned to him and folded his hands. Kiku could see, though, that he was gripping them tightly. "Why are you here, Kiku?" He said, and Kiku could have sworn that that evil smile grew larger.

"W-Well Sir, I-I'd say it would be b-because I got into a f-fight." Kiku couldn't stop stuttering.

"That's right." Mr. Braginsky stood up and Kiku leaned back from him in his chair. The principal came around Kiku's chair though, and put his hands on the back edge of it. "Kiku, I like tough kids. I think they show a lot of spirit. If it were up to me, I'd keep you around the school. I think these kids could use a little more fear in their hearts among these parts."

"I don't understand, Mr. Braginski." Kiku furrowed his brows together and looked up at Mr. Braginski from where he was sitting. The principal had this strange look on his face and continued to talk.

"More of these children need to succumb to the rules of the school. Most of them have, but a select few have escaped me. That's not why you're here though, Kiku. I wouldn't have called you in if I was going to keep you here." At that point Mr. Braginski walked in front of Kiku's chair.

"I didn't want you to be expelled because I'd like to see you back here again. I pulled some strings and got you a one month suspension. Take it while you can, because I don't do such things very often, and I do them for a price."

"A price?"

"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about your brother Yao, you know." The principal chuckled a bit. "I'd really like to speak with him, if that's okay."

Kiku thought about it and figured that it wouldn't be so bad if the principal just had one conversation with his brother. Besides, this was in exchange for an expulsion! He would take the offer. "It's a deal, sir."

Mr. Braginski grinned. "Perfect. Just give me his number and you head home with your suspension."

Kiku couldn't get out of the office quickly enough. He hastily scribbled Yao's phone number down on a small slip of paper and bolted out of there. He thought about waving to Alfred as he left with his small pink slip, but he didn't. Alfred looked like he didn't want to be bothered. He quickly jogged out of the school and off of the grounds.

Kiku could walk home from school. His family lived close enough. When he felt like he was far enough away, he stopped jogging. His arm hurt, anyway, from carrying his backpack separately from his back. He decided to sit down for a moment on the grass . He didn't know what his mother would do when he got home. She would be furious. He probably wasn't going to get supper tonight, and his parents would find something for him to do while he was home. It could be chores, yard work, extra work books... When it came to punishing kids in a constructive manner, Kiku's parents took the cake. He didn't want to face them though. He knew that what he did was unacceptable to them. Especially now that he was much older than he used to be when the problem arose. He scrunched his face in his hands. He was going to have to explain everything to Feliciano and Ludwig too. He was sure that Arthur, Francis, Elizabeta and Gilbert would also want to know. How had he managed to get himself into such a horrible mess?

After at least ten minutes Kiku got up and walked the rest of the way back home. His mother was waiting for him at the door. Her lips were tight and her arms were crossed. Kiku also noticed that she was tapping her foot.

"Hello, Mother." He looked down, as he couldn't bear to look her in the eye.

"Kiku Honda, I can't believe the phone call I got today. What is that?" She asked and snatched the pink slip out of his hand. Kiku barely tried to grab it back, as his mother would find out about the suspension one way or another. "A _suspension_!" Her eyes went wide and she grabbed Kiku by the ear. "Come inside right now! We're having a talk."

"Ouch! Mother!" He was dragged inside by his ear and forced down at the table. He covered his face up with his hands as his mother sat across from him.

"What happened today?" She asked.

"I just lost it." He whispered and tears started to fall again. "I'm sorry mother. It won't happen again I can assure you."

"You assured me last time."

"I know, but I was provoked." He sniffled into his hands, still trying to hide his face. Kiku suddenly felt a pair of warm arms around him.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Kiku. America was supposed to be a better place for us. I just didn't think this would come up again…"

"I didn't think that either."

"I know." She backed away from Kiku. "We're just going to have to watch ourselves. For now though, you've still managed to get yourself suspended. Go spend the rest of the day in your room, your father and I will think of something for you to work on for the next…" She looked at the pink slip, "month."

Kiku uncovered his face. "Food?"

"I'll think about it." His mother put the slip down on the counter and was no longer facing him.

Relieved that his mother had not done more, Kiku went upstairs to his room with his backpack. He sat down at the desk and looked out the window. This was going to be a long month.

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><p><strong>Sorry for posting so late! I was at an MUN conference all weekend! Anyway I just wanted to say wow! The fic got so many views last week I am so flattered! You guys are so great and I just want to thank you all for being so supportive!<br>I hope your first week of March goes well!**

**M.O. **


	8. Chapter 8 Things Get Worse

Chapter 8 Things Get Worse

It was the first day of Kiku's suspension. He lay in bed and buried his face in his pillow. Kiku's parents had gotten him up at six, with the reasoning that he was still going to get up at school hour on his little "break". Kiku groaned and looked at the clock. It was 6:35. He was still in bed. His whole body was sore and he hadn't slept very well. There were bruises and cuts on his knuckles, but the cuts had scabbed over. He stared at them and picked at them. It was still dark in his room. After five or so minutes Kiku buried his face in his pillow. What had he done? Kiku was a good student, he never got into trouble like this. Not in a long time anyway. How had he managed to lose his temper so quickly? Kiku sighed and slowly got himself out of bed. It seemed like all the cold air had drifted into his room away from the covers. Luckily the bathroom wasn't too far away. He shuffled in there and shut the door quickly. After making sure it was locked, Kiku got his toothbrush and brushed his teeth lazily. He wanted nothing more than to just sleep for the whole next month and pretend like the suspension didn't exist, but that wasn't an option. After he was done brushing his teeth, Kiku ran himself a bath. He thought about Alfred and how it might've been fun to take a bath with him, but now there wasn't a chance of such a thing happening. He made the water as hot as it could run and stepped in.

After his bath Kiku went downstairs to get breakfast. Both of his parents were out at work but they left a note for him on the table. He walked over and read it.

_Good morning, Kiku,_

_We've decided that while you're on suspension you're going to clean out the basement and put all of our things away. We never got the chance to open those boxes when we moved. This will be a great opportunity to make some space down there and keep you busy. Good Luck! To extend your punishment we also think it'd be wrong for you to be going out to see friends on the weekdays, so you're going to have to stay in the house._

_Best Wishes,_

_Mom and Dad_

Kiku's eyes widened. The boxes in the basement? There had to be at least forty, probably more. Not to mention all the old stuff the previous owners of the house had left. This was going to take Kiku a lot of hard work to get finished. He crumpled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder and into the trash bin. Kiku sighed heavily. He went to go get his breakfast ready and prepared everything as quickly as possible. Kiku wondered what Alfred was up to even if he knew he shouldn't be wondering such things. He tried not to think about Alfred but he just couldn't help himself. Alfred had hurt him. First, he'd broken up with Kiku and then called him names to his face. Just to twist the knife in, he'd then physically hurt Kiku, causing him to lose the temper that he'd been controlling so well. He sat down and ate speedily. If he was going to get done in a month he was going to have to move quickly. It wasn't long before he finished his breakfast and cleaned up his food scraps.

Kiku yawned and went over to the basement. He hesitated before opening the door. Kiku didn't like the basement. He didn't go down there very often, and usually when he did, his parents were home. In truth, Kiku was scared of the basement. He'd watched enough Japanese horror movies to know what went on in the basement. Kiku knew, of course, that none of it was true. It was enough to scare him, though. Even without the scary horror movies, it was really eerie down there. He knew he had to do this though, or he wasn't sure what his parents were going to do. Kiku mustered up all the courage that he had and opened the door. He turned on the light switch and stared down the stairs. He really wished that the previous owners had refinished the basement, but they hadn't. Kiku gradually made his way down the stairs and took deep breaths. He wished that his parents were home, at least. Kiku was, however, grateful that there were at least decent lights for the basement.

It took him ten minutes. Kiku was finally on the basement floor. Boxes surrounded him, higher than his head. He didn't remember bringing so much from Japan; it couldn't possibly all be theirs. A good majority of it had to be from the previous owners. He shook his head. It would be easier to bring a few boxes out of the basement at a time. That way he wouldn't have to spend so much time down there.

That's what Kiku did. He got through about ten boxes before it was dark out. His parents came home when he was on the seventh box. After ten they told him he could stop for the day and eat dinner. They asked him how his day went and he told them it was boring. And the same thing happened just about every day after that. Every day, Kiku would wake up and eat breakfast alone, he would worry about his grades, and then unpack boxes. Sometimes Kiku would just sit and cry about Alfred for a while. He hated how things ended between them. Alfred had been out of his mind. Scared of his dad, filled with the ideas that liking another man was wrong and bad, that it took away from his masculinity. Kiku couldn't fathom where they might've come from. The worst part of it was that Kiku felt like Alfred had been right about all he'd said. If Alfred hadn't met Kiku, all of those things wouldn't have happened. If only they'd stayed in Tokyo. Kiku considered cutting himself but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Something in the back of his mind told him it'd be stupid. On occasion he would text his friends. He usually didn't feel like talking, though. They knew he wasn't allowed to go out and to Kiku that was all they needed to know for now. It wasn't until about halfway through the month that Kiku was thrown off of his usual cycle from a phone call.

It surprised him at first; he never expected his cell phone to ring in the middle of the day. Kiku didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" He picked it up and set one of the boxes down.

"Kiku, what kind of mess did you get me into?" It was Yao. He sounded angry.

"What do you mean? What mess?"

"You gave your principal my phone number?"

Kiku sat down. He'd forgotten that he had done that. "Yao, let me explain…"

"Explain what?! This strange guy calls me asking all these questions- I had to change my phone number!"

"Yao, I didn't know what he was going to do. I just- he threatened to expel me if I didn't give it to you."

Yao sighed. Kiku could tell he was angry. It was almost as if he could hear him shaking his head over the phone. "Kiku, I don't know what to say."

"I'm sorry Yao. What did he do to you?"

"You don't want to know! Just don't give him my number again. The guy is a total creep."

"A creep?"

"More than a creep, I would keep away from him if I were you. I might talk to mom and dad about having them take you out of that school."

"Taking me out of the school? But I have friends."

"Tch, I don't know if I feel safe with you there."

"Don't worry Yao, I'm okay."

"I heard from mom and dad that you lost your temper."

"I did."

"Losing your temper doesn't sound like 'okay' to me. It sounds like that school has got you completely backwards."

"How would you know? You're studying in China."

"I still care about you!"

Kiku sighed and leaned forward. He didn't know how to respond to that. "Yao I-"

"Just let me talk to mom and dad later…" Yao sounded desperate.

"Okay, that's fine." Kiku didn't want to argue anymore. He was sure his parents wouldn't pull him out of school anyway.

"_Xie Xie_- I mean- Thank you, Kiku."

"You're welcome." Kiku smiled a little. It was nice to hear his brother's voice again anyway.

"Okay, I need to get back to work. I'll call the house phone on Saturday."

"Talk to you then."

"Yeah, talk to you then. Hang in there, little brother." And with that Yao hung up.

It wasn't for a few more days until something exciting happened to Kiku. He was unpacking the second box for the day when the bell rang. Kiku didn't think that they were expecting any packages and it was only 9AM. Quickly, he walked to the door and opened it. There, standing on his front stoop, was an unhappy looking Ludwig, and a very bouncy Feliciano. Francis and Arthur were arguing, and Gilbert and Elizabeta were grinning, Gilbert had his weird bird with him (He's been taking it everywhere lately), and Elizabeta had a new flower tucked into her hair-they were in front of everyone.

"Kesesese, hey Kiku, we thought we'd visit you."

"Visit me?" Kiku was horribly confused. "Isn't there school right now?"

Elizabeta took a step forward. "Yes, but it was the only time we could come around without your parents knowing. Is it alright if we come in?"

"W-Well…" Kiku tried to stop them, but the lot of them barged in anyway.

"Nice house, Kiku!" Gilbert said as he flopped down on the couch. "I like the decorations."

Kiku frowned. "They're not really decorations, it's all ancient Japanese heirlooms." He turned around to see Feliciano picking up a porcelain vase. Quickly he went over and took it out of his hands. "A-Ah please don't touch that! It's fragile."

"Ve~ sorry, Kiku." Feliciano scratched the back of his neck.

Francis walked up to Kiku and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kiku, have you got anything to eat around here? I skipped breakfast today."

Arthur elbowed him violently. "First you invite yourself in, now you're asking for food? How about he gives you a foot rub too?"

Francis smirked and grazed a finger under Arthur's chin. "I wouldn't mind one from you."

Arthur lunged away. "Sod off, you bloody Frog!"

"Actually some food sounds really nice~" Feliciano drifted in front of Kiku. "I'm pretty hungry, myself."

"Me too!" Gilbert chimed in. He kicked his feet up on the table and took his shoes off. "And if you've got any beer I'll take that as well."

Kiku put his face in his hands. He couldn't believe what was happening and he didn't know if he should be happy or stressed. "I-I can see what we have in the kitchen."

"I'll come and help you." Ludwig looked stern as he approached Kiku. "We don't want to trouble you too much."

"Nooo, Luddy stay with me~!" Feliciano said and clung on to Ludwig's arm.

"_Nein-_ I mean no Feliciano, I want to help. We've already imposed enough."

"I'll help, too." Arthur broke away from Francis' grasp.

"No!" everyone said at once. Arthur looked surprised and maybe a little hurt.

"W-We just think it'd be better if you manned things in here. You seem to be a fairly good leader." Kiku tried to smooth things out.

Arthur puffed his chest out. "I am a good leader. I suppose I could help in the kitchen another time."

The rest of the room looked relieved. Elizabeta came over to Kiku. "Kiku, I'd be happy to help you in the kitchen. I'm a fairly good cook."

"I can vouch for that; she's wonderful." Gilbert said as he played with Gilbird.

"O-Okay" Kiku said reluctantly. "You can follow me into the kitchen."

Slowly, Kiku inched his way around his guests and made his way into the kitchen. Ludwig and Elizabeta followed him. It was colder in the kitchen than in the living room, which Kiku suddenly became very self-conscious about. "What can we help you with, Kiku?" Elizabeta suddenly asked.

"O-Oh, well we can make some sushi. I was going to make it for myself for lunch, but I think there should be enough for all of us."

"Hmm, I've never had sushi." Ludwig mused.

"Me neither." Elizabeta shook her head. "You'll have to teach us how to make it."

"That's not a problem. It's really good and not very difficult." Kiku opened the refrigerator and looked inside. "We usually make it by hand so it might just take some time."

"That's fine." Ludwig came over and took the fish out of Kiku's hand.

Kiku gradually got out all the ingredients. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay. You hardly ever text us back and we missed you." Elizabeta looked at him caringly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Alfred doesn't sit by us anymore either." Ludwig said and shook his head, as Kiku got out a cutting board.

"Oh…" Kiku grabbed a knife and laid the fish down. "Cut it like this." He instructed the two of them as he divided the fish and cut a few pieces. They both nodded and began to cut as Kiku had.

"Yeah, we were also hoping that you might be able to fill us in on what happened."

Elizabeta glanced at him and then resumed cutting the fish.

Kiku leaned on the counter and fiddled with the seaweed "What happened?"

"_Ja-_ I mean yeah, we all saw you was- I mean you were- beating some kids up. They were really hurt too."

"If it hadn't been for Ludwig, who knows what would have stopped you."

"L-Ludwig?" Kiku ripped the seaweed by mistake and figured that it might be time to start prepping it instead. Even if there wasn't a lot of prep work needed. Before he did that though, he went over to the rice pot and started to make some quick white rice.

"Yes, if he hadn't gotten the authorities, you probably would have kept hitting."

Kiku couldn't face them. "Let's talk about this more after lunch is prepared."

The three of them working together got lunch done rather quickly. More quickly that Kiku had expected or wanted. He was trying to avoid talking about what happened, trying to figure out how to word things without letting on that Alfred's father had hit him. The three of them walked out to the group. Francis and Gilbert were picking on Arthur while Feliciano was crying in the corner.

"Feliciano what happened?" Ludwig went over to him.

Feliciano sniffled. "Francis started to pick on me and the Arthur yelled at him. A-And I didn't want them to fight so I tried to stop them but then they kept fighting. Gilbert took Francis' side and then they both started yelling at Arthur and I just don't want there to be any more yelling!" He sobbed and buried his face in Ludwig's chest.

Ludwig looked angry. His jaw pushed forward and he glared at Francis. "What did you tell Feliciano!?"

Francis backed away from him nervously. "N-Nothing!"

Elizabeta marched over to Gilbert. She smacked him on the arm and he winced. "Just what were you doing with Francis? Why did you make Feliciano cry?"

"Owa!" he thrust his face out at her, but she didn't budge. Finally he relaxed and flopped back onto the couch. "Aw, we were just getting on Arthur for being such a prissy. It's not our fault Feli began to cry."

She hit him again. "It _is_ your fault! Apologize Gil!"

"And I am not a prissy!" Arthur chimed in. "Just because I got a little angry that my boyfrieeeeee hohoho that this _thing_ here is flirting with another boy does not make me a prissy!" He had his finger shoved in Francis' face, and avoided looking at him.

Francis had a rather large smirk playing on his lips. "What was that you almost called me Arthur? Your what?"

"Never mind what! It's not important!"

"Oh, but I think it is~!"

Feliciano ran between them. "Please don't fight anymore!"

Ludwig came over and got him. "Feliciano I do not think this concerns you."

"But-"

Elizabeta cut everyone off. "Alright all of you quiet down!" She glared at everyone menacingly. Every mouth in the room stopped moving. Elizabeta could be really scary at times. "Now, we have some things to get through today but obviously this little _tiff _has preceded them all. First thing we're going to do is have Gilbert apologize. To Arthur _and _Feliciano."

"What?! Liz!" Gilbert stood up. "I didn't even do anything wrong!"

She turned to him and pressed a finger into his chest. "Didn't do anything wrong? You picked on Arthur to the point of Feliciano bursting into tears!"

"Liz, I-"

"Apologize!"

Gilbert scoffed and took her finger off of his chest. "Fine, geez Lizzy you're really something." He looked at Feliciano and Alfred. "I am sorry that I may have hurt you, Arthur, and I am sorry that I made you cry, Feliciano."

Feliciano perked up almost instantly. "Ve~ it's okay! Thank you for apologizing! You never do that!"

"I do too apologize!"

Feliciano looked down. "Well, I've never heard it."

Gilbert opened his mouth again but Elizabeta shushed him. "No, we're not arguing about this. Next, I want Francis to _also _apologize to Arthur and Feliciano."

Francis folded his arms and flipped his hair back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do whatever I did."

"Whatever you did?! You bloody Frog!" Arthur lunged at him. "I want a real apology!"

"Ve~ no!" Feliciano yelled and started to cry again. Luckily, before any tears could fall, Elizabeta stopped them.

"Both of you just _stop! _Feliciano is crying again." She glared at Francis. "Now _really _apologize."

Francis gnawed on his lower lip. "I'm sorry I made you cry, Feliciano and I'm sorry I called you prissy, Arthur."

"I still think it could be better." Arthur folded his arms and turned away from him.

"No, it was just fine how it was." Elizabeta scowled. "Take it or leave it, Arthur."

Arthur stuck his nose up in the air. "Fine, I'll take it."

Elizabeta huffed. "Good. Now Arthur, will you settle the final matter?"

"And what would that be?"

"Well, Francis is never going to shut up unless you admit it."

"Admit what?" Arthur's eyes widened.

"You know…" A strange smile grew on Elizabeta's face.

"Oh no, no I won't!" Arthur turned away.

Francis grinned and slunk over behind Arthur. "Oh yes~ Arthur, you have to say it at some point."

"Why! Why the hell is it so important?!"

"Because we've been waiting to hear it for a long time! It's obviously killing Francis, and you came so close a moment ago! We can't let this go or it might never come." Elizabeta sat down on the arm of the couch.

"This is completely ridiculous!" Arthur griped. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"It's a big deal because it makes me feel like you don't really feel anything for me." Francis looked down. The room was dead silent, one could hear pin drop if one wanted to. No one had ever really heard Francis say something so meaningful to Arthur.

Arthur turned to face him. "What?"

"Why can't you permanize it, Arthur?"

Arthur glanced at the rest of the room and leaned in to Francis. He whispered, but he whispered loudly. "Well, I've told you I love you."

Francis looked sad. Kiku was sure he'd never seen Francis looking sad before. He'd seen him look hurt, sure, but not real sadness; surprised-yes, happy-yes, lustful-yes, but never sad. "Arthur, when you say a thing like that but are unable to make the relationship permanent. How do I know if it's real or not?"

"How could you say that, Francis?"

"So you won't say it, then? You won't call me your boyfriend?"

Arthur's lips tightened. "No. I won't."

Francis looked hurt. He looked _really_ hurt. "Fine, I guess we're over then."

The whole room seemed to take an intake of breath. Arthur and Francis had been together for as long as Kiku could remember, he assumed it must've been the same for the others in the room. Arthur looked taken aback. "Wait, Francis, what?"

Francis backed away from him. "You heard me, Arthur, we're done. In French we say _casser. _You are officially _mon ex ._"

"What? Francis, what does that mean? Are you really breaking up with me just because I won't say it?" Arthur's voice was wavering. "Y-You can't do that. We've been together for three years!"

Francis' stare was strong. "Yes, I can. And I am." He looked at Kiku. "Kiku, it was nice seeing you, but I don't want to be around the black sheep anymore." He glared at Arthur. "I'm sure I'll get filled in later." With that, Francis took his jacket and left. Kiku didn't even get to say goodbye.

Everyone stood there in shock. Arthur was the most shocked. Big tears began to roll down his cheeks. He didn't even try to wipe them away from embarrassment. Elizabeta had a look of guilt all over her face. "Arthur? Are you okay?"

Slowly Arthur turned his head away from the door and to the group. "Do I look okay to you?"

Gilbert dragged his palm down his face. "Fuck."

Arthur tried to speak again but he was unable to form words. Only little sobs came from his mouth. Elizabeta walked up to him and put her arm around him. "Oh Arthur, I'm so sorry."

Arthur gently collapsed to his knees and hid his face in his hands. Elizabeta patted his back and everyone gathered in a circle around them. Feliciano looked sad, Ludwig looked very concerned, and Gil was distracting himself with Gilbird.

Kiku grabbed the plate of sushi and sat down with the rest of them. He held it out tentatively. "Maybe some food would make you feel better…" He spoke quietly.

Arthur sniveled and looked unhappy as Elizabeta comforted him as if she were his mother. He took one sushi and nibbled on it. The rest of them also took some sushi as well as they were all still hungry. It was quiet for a long time. Only the sounds of Arthur's quiet sobbing echoed through the house.

Finally, Gilbert got up. "That's it. I'm going after the bastard."

"Wh-What?" Arthur looked up at him. "But it really was my fault because I wouldn't say he was my boyfriend."

"I know." Gilbert folded his arms. "That's why you're coming with me."

"Coming with you? Gilbert, I don-"

"You're coming with me! We're going to fix this." He put his hands on his hips. It reminded Kiku of Alfred.

"Oh pish posh, you don't have to be so pushy." Arthur wiped his nose and got up slowly. One could tell he didn't really want to get up, but he wanted to see Francis again.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you handle such a delicate situation on your own, Gilbert. I'm coming too." Ludwig stood up and brushed off his pants.

"What! No we don't need no stick in the mud!"

"I'm not a stick in the mud! But I know how well you handle situations, Gilbert."

Before Gilbert could open his mouth, Elizabeta spoke. "Let him go with you, Gil. You're going to need a mediator."

Gilbert snarled and looked at his brother. "Fine, but only speak if you're needed. I don't need a babysitter."

"Ve~ then I'm going to!" Feliciano jumped up. "I'm not going anywhere without my Luddy~"

"Why don't you tell that to your brother?" Gilbert smirked.

Ludwig frowned. "Control Gilbert." Feliciano just looked confused.

Gilbert scoffed and looked down at Elizabeta. "Are you coming, my treasure?"

Elizabeta shook her head. "No, I think I'm going to stay behind with Kiku. We did come here for him after all, and I'm not just going to abandon him after barging in and eating his food."

Gilbert shrugged. "Fine by me. Maybe we could go to the strip club after."

Arthur punched him. "Hey mate, respect the lady. You never know when you might lose her."

Elizabeta smiled slyly. "Thank you, Arthur."

Arthur sniffled and looked down. He was still crying a bit. "Of course, love."

Gilbert scowled. "There isn't anybody but me calling her "love" ya hear? Let's get going before I change my mind." He put his shoes back on and the rest of them put their coats on.

Elizabeta kissed Gilbert on the cheek. "Be safe."

Gilbert beamed. "I will~!"

Gilbert led the three of them out the door, leaving Kiku and Elizabeta with an empty plate of sushi in-between them. "Kiku, I didn't know that would happen. I'm so sorry."

Kiku smiled, but it wasn't real. "No, it's okay. No one can predict something like that."

"Let me help you clean up and we can talk. It was my idea to come here anyway, and I still want to hear about you."

Elizabeta's words warmed Kiku's heart a little. He nodded. "Alright. But let's clean up first and then talk in my room."

"That sounds fine."

"All we need to do is clean the sushi plate, anyway. I cleaned up after you and Ludwig while we were making lunch."

Elizabeta blinked. "Oh, okay. That makes it easy then." She picked up the sushi plate and went into the kitchen. Kiku followed closely behind her.

They washed the sushi dish off and put it in the dishwasher afterward, just to be sure. The two of them then walked up into Kiku's room. Elizabeta immediately started to look around as Kiku plopped down on his bed. "You don't have to search through everything you know."

"

I know, but I'm curious."

"You're going to find something if you search." Kiku was getting a bit uncomfortable.

"Is there something you don't want me to find?" She got down on her knees and pulled out a box. Kiku jumped and Elizabeta grinned. "I guess this is it, then." She opened it, and her eyes grew wide. "Oooh Kiku, it looks like we have similar interests. My collection is almost the same." It was Kiku's own assembly of gay, sexually explicit, materials.

Kiku was blushing a deep, deep red blush. "A-Almost?"

"Yes, almost. Except I film my own sometimes. I should have given you this one of Francis and Arthur for your birthday, instead of some silly pillow. We could be a great team you know."

Kiku hid his face behind his hands. "I didn't mean for anybody to find that."

Elizabeta shrugged and pushed the box back under the bed. "I understand. We can talk more about it later." Kiku nodded and Elizabeta joined him on the bed. "Now tell me about Alfred."

Kiku took a deep breath and recounted the story. He never said that Alfred's dad hit him, just that when he found them he got really angry and Alfred's dad had kicked Kiku out. He still cried at that part. He also cried at the part where Alfred called him a "faggot". Elizabeta was very caring the whole time, and to Kiku it felt good to get it all off of his shoulders. He didn't think he would be able to tell anyone else. It was all too embarrassing and sad. She was a good listener and patted his back. She let him take his time, especially at the rough parts. By the time he had finished, after interjecting all of his feelings through the whole thing, and his theories on why Alfred said what he said it was dark out. Kiku felt tired and heavy; his face was tear stained. In some ways, though, a big weight was lifted off of Kiku's shoulders. He looked at Elizabeta. They were both lying on the bed now.

"Thank you for listening to me."

She smiled at him. "Thank you for telling me."

"I suppose you should fill the others in."

"I'll keep it simple. None of the really bad details."

Kiku smiled, a genuine smile. "Thank you again, then."

"Of course! Anything for a friend."

"This helped me."

"I'm glad it did. Maybe I'll have to send you a tape too, in the mail, so you can get through the month okay."

Kiku laughed. "Only if you want to!"

Elizabeta laughed too. "I just might!"

"What time is it?" Kiku looked at his watch. It was almost 7:30. "Woah! My parents are going to be home soon. You'd better go before they find you."

"Oh," Elizabeta looked sad. "I was hoping we could talk more."

"Maybe another time when I'm not in trouble. Let me at least walk you to the door." Kiku got up off the bed and offered Elizabeta his hand.

She didn't take it. "Alright, that's fine."

The two of them walked downstairs silently. Elizabeta put her shoes and coat back on. They stood there in the hallway, near the door for a moment awkwardly until Elizabeta suddenly hugged Kiku very tightly. "You're going to be okay, Kiku. Don't worry."

Kiku was surprised at first, but quickly warmed up to the gesture. He hugged her back. "Okay. Thank you for coming by today. I never would have thought such a visit could cheer me up so much"

She grinned and pulled away from the hug. "I'm glad it turned out well, even after what happened with Francis and Arthur."

Kiku chuckled. "I'm sure those two have got it worked out."

Elizabeta laughed. "I sure hope so." She smiled at him. "I'll see you in half a month Kiku. Good luck."

Kiku opened the front door. "Thank you again, and good luck to you too. See you in half a month."

He waved goodbye to her as she skipped down the stoop in her winter jacket. Long, fluffy brown hair trailed behind her with a bounce, yet the flower never lost its place. He wondered if she was cold always, wearing dresses like that, but she was so strong he figured she must not be.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! So, here is chapter 8 for you! I meant to post this earlier but I got busy. It's up now though! How is your March going? I hope it's going well. I also hope you like this new chapter! Feel free to comment because I always appreciate feedback. THanks for reading. I'll see you guys next week ;)<strong>

**M.O. **


	9. Chapter 9 What Can We Do Now?

Chapter 9. What Can We Do Now?

Kiku didn't get any more visitors for the remainder of the month. Even if he secretly wanted them to come. Sometimes he would take a moment of the day just to peek out the window to see if his friends were coming again, but they never were. Elizabeta had sent him that tape, though. Who the tape was of would be kept secret but Kiku watched it more than once. Sometimes he would text his friends, more often than he used to, anyway, but still not daily. It wasn't long until Kiku was to be going back at school. Before he knew it, the basement had been cleared out, and he was packing his bags for the next day. He was looking forward to getting back to work, but not looking forward to seeing Alfred. He didn't really know what was coming for him. He was also looking forward to seeing his friends in person again. Kiku hadn't realized how much he missed them until they visited and then left again. He couldn't wait for tomorrow. It would be hard to sleep, but he was prepared for that.

The next day, Kiku stared at the school. He couldn't walk in. He was frozen outside the front steps. He gripped his backpack tightly and rocked back on his heels. He thought that he'd been prepared, but he hadn't been. Someone walked up behind him. It was Francis.

"Ah! Kiku, you're back!"

Kiku turned his head around and looked up at him. "Yes, I am."

Francs put an arm around him. "Having trouble walking into the school?"

Kiku nodded. "I didn't realize how scary it would be."

Francis blew some hair out of his eye. "Come on, let me walk you in. I am ASB president after all."

"O-Okay." Kiku said as Francis started walking up the steps briskly, pulling Kiku along.

It wasn't long until they were in the main hallway with all the offices. Kiku was taken back to his first days of school. He remembered how he'd run into the hall with Francis and Arthur fighting, and then they'd taken him around the school and that's how he'd met Alfred. A fond memory soon turned into a bad one with the fleeting thought of Alfred. Instead, Kiku remembered the fight that Arthur and Francis had, had at his house. He looked up at him.

"Hey, did you ever work things out with Arthur?" Kiku was genuinely curious.

Francis' smile fell. "_Oui_, we did but…things have never been the same."

"Oh? How so?" Kiku furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Francis sternly. He couldn't figure out why things might be different if Arthur just gave Francis what he wanted.

Francis shook his head. "I can't really explain it. Both of us feel it though. Something went wrong when we made up."

"I see…" Kiku said, though he really didn't see. He wished that his brother Yao was here.

Yao was really wise. He always knew what to do and he had great advice. Kiku never seemed like he knew what to say. Yet people always told him he was good to talk to.

"You're good to talk to Kiku." Francis looked down and said to him. "You listen, you don't just interject with your own opinions suddenly. Thank you, Kiku."

"Huh? Oh um, you're welcome." Kiku forced himself to smile.

Francis patted him on the back. "You're a good friend, Kiku."

"I'm glad you think so." Kiku looked ahead at the bustling hallway.

"Well I think I'll leave you here, Kiku. You're not quite late for class."

"You're leaving me? B-But my first class is with Alfred!"

Francis smirked. "I'm afraid I have some things to get done as ASB president. You're going to have to face him alone."

"A-Alone?" Kiku swallowed hard. He didn't want to get into another fight with Alfred. Especially if he still had lingering feelings for him. Kiku knew that he shouldn't have such feelings, but he couldn't help it. Yes, Alfred had hurt him in many ways, but he was also Kiku's first love. And that was really huge to him.

"I believe in you, Kiku." Francis said, and ruffled Kiku's hair. "You can get past this."

"_Domo Arigato_." Kiku bowed to him. "It means a lot for you to say that to me." He smiled at Francis, who smiled back.

"I'll see you at lunch, Kiku. Good luck on your first day…again!" He laughed and walked into the ASB room. Kiku sighed to himself and walked to Drama.

Kiku sat down in drama in his usual spot. Mr. Densen came up to him before he could even turn and look at Alfred.

"Hello Kiku, welcome back."

Kiku pressed himself away from Mr. Densen and into his chair. "Thank you, Mr. Densen, it's good to be back."

"I heard you were suspended for a month. We've gotten a lot of work done in a month."

"Hopefully I'll be able to catch up." Kiku smiled nervously at him.

"Well, we haven't done much with the unimportant characters."

"Glad to hear that, then."

"Yes, well, do your best to catch up!" He banged his hand on Kiku's desk loudly, making Kiku jump, and walked away.

Kiku was now able to see Alfred. He turned to look at him. Alfred looked tired. He wasn't bruised or cut like when Kiku had left, but he'd obviously changed a lot in the past month. He didn't look quite as healthy, and he seemed a bit thinner. His hair was a little longer and he wasn't smiling. Kiku blinked a few times. Surely this wasn't the same Alfred. This was no Alfred he knew anyway. He leaned toward him a bit. Slowly though.

"A-Alfred?" He could barely choke the name out.

Alfred turned to him. His voice was quiet and not his own. "Kiku. Has it already been a month?"

"What happened to you, Alfred?" Kiku was really concerned. His friends never said anything about the change, though they did say that he stopped hanging out with them, so that could explain why.

"Nothing happened to me. I don't know what you're getting on about."

Kiku tightened his lip. "You know exactly what I mean. I shouldn't even be talking to you after what you did to me. But look at yourself. You're thin, you look tired, and you don't look as healthy."

"What I did to you?" Alfred looked disgusted. "You mean what you did to yourself."

"No, I don't mean what I did to myself. _You _got me suspended!"

Alfred raised his voice. "I didn't get you suspended! You got yourself suspended!"

Mr. Densen looked at the both of them. "Take it outside, boys. I don't want it in my classroom."

Both Alfred and Kiku huffed and got out of their seats, though Alfred was slower. As the two of them walked outside, Alfred shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He didn't have a coat. Kiku always had a coat, which he put his own hands into the pockets of. Both boys scowled at each other. Kiku shut the door quickly behind them as they reached the outdoors.

"What are you going to do? Hit me like the other boys?" Alfred smirked at him and leaned against the wall.

Kiku looked down and shuffled his feet. "Maybe a month ago I might've hit you. But not now. Are you going to tell me what's happened to you?"

"Like I said before, I don't know what you mean.

"Are you on drugs Alfred?"

"Please, I'm not that stupid Kiku. You Japanese may think that we Americans are stupid, but this American is not so dumb." Kiku stamped his foot and opened his mouth to say something but Alfred spoke over him. "Oh, so we're angry now, are we?"

Kiku was angry at Alfred. He was acting like an ass. "Yes! I've been angry for the last month! I'm angry that my boyfriend started to be a jerk to me for no reason, I'm mad that he then _broke up _with me that very same day, I'm mad that because of that he called me names and spread rumors about me, I'm mad I lost my temper and got suspended because of him! Yes, Alfred, I am angry. I'm mad that my now _ex _is still being a dick! I'm angry that he looks like he's been abusing himself and he won't tell me why! I'm most angry because I don't understand why any of this happened! I never did anything!" Kiku felt like spitting fire. He was trying hard not to lose it again, but he was just on the edge. He balled his hands in and out of fists.

Alfred blinked in surprise, he pulled a cigarette out and lit it. "You know why it all happened. You _seduced _me."

Kiku snorted, he was angry. "Is that it? Is that why you look so terrible? You've started smoking, Alfred? And I didn't seduce you! I didn't try to get your attention or try to make you like me-"

"Love you." Alfred interrupted. "I loved you."

"No!" Kiku was almost in tears. "No, that wasn't love. If it was love, you wouldn't have done what you did to me. You wouldn't have said what you said to me."

"Don't go back there!"

Kiku came up and hit the cigarette out of Alfred's hands. "Stop it! Stop being difficult! Of course I'm going to go back there! Alfred, why? Why did you say those things to me? What did your father do?"

"What my father does is none of your business."

"Yes, it is my business! I was there! Did you forget, Alfred? I was there when your dad hit you. I was there, and I tried to get him away." Kiku wiped oncoming tears out of his eyes.

"I know you were there." Alfred looked down. "And then you left."

"You told me to leave!" Alfred remained quiet. "Alfred, you told me to go! Was there something else you wanted me to do?"

Alfred shuffled his feet. "I'm going inside." He turned to the door.

"No, you're not!" Kiku grabbed Alfred's shoulder and turned him around. "What did you want from me, Alfred? What happened when I left?"

Alfred sniffled. "You still care don't you?"

Kiku let go of his shoulder. "Hardly."

Alfred scoffed. "Look, I'm sorry I got you suspended. But I still have some things to sort out."

"Like what?" Kiku took another step closer to Alfred.

Alfred looked Kiku directly in the eye. What was once a bright sky blue was now pale and sad. "Like how I still feel about you. What I did, and what my dad said."

"Alfred-" Kiku tried to bring his hand up but he couldn't. He didn't have the will.

"For now, just leave me the hell alone."

With that, Alfred walked inside. Kiku stood alone outside and took a deep breath. He tried to process what Alfred had just told him, but he couldn't. Did Alfred still…like him? He couldn't believe that, not after what he said to him. Kiku didn't want to go back to class, but he still had to prepare for the school play. Performances were beginning in a few weeks and he didn't have any of his stage directions yet. Thank goodness he had his lines memorized; that would save him a world of trouble. The only catch was that the scene was with Alfred. He didn't want to rehearse with Alfred. Not now, anyway. Not after Alfred had asked him to stay far away from him. He wouldn't have to kiss Alfred in rehearsal, though. Just at the real show. He could fake it until then. With one more deep breath, Kiku walked back inside after Alfred. Mr. Densen was saying something in front of the whole class, Alfred was sitting in a new spot, and Kiku took his regular seat. He didn't know what to think, or what was lying ahead for him.

Kiku was relieved when it was lunch time. The whole beginning of the day had gone so slowly. Rehearsal for the play had been okay. Luckily, Kiku and Alfred's scene hadn't needed many stage directions and they were able to start running the show very slowly. He didn't have to kiss Alfred, which both of them seemed thankful for. Miss Arlovaskaya had taken great joy in how many assignments Kiku had missed while away. He was already up to his eyeballs in school work, but none of it was half as bad as the pile Miss Arlovaskaya dropped onto his desk. She expected it done by the end of the week. The rest of the teachers had been fairly lenient with him. Mr. Fernández Carriedo had even told him that he didn't need to catch up on any of the work Kiku missed! He could just pick up where they were now, and he gave Kiku a few sheets to read that might be helpful, but that was all. During passing period, Ludwig and Feliciano both talked to him. They were happy to see him back. Ludwig offered to help Kiku catch up on some of his missing work, and Feliciano offered to come along too, though he wasn't sure how much he could help with. Nothing else happened, though. Kiku mostly just received a handful of homework.

Kiku sat down at his regular spot. Or his old regular spot, where he'd sat before the month of suspension had come up. He was hoping that his friends still sat here, because he didn't see any of them yet. Kiku pulled out his lunch box and opened it. He was still somewhat happy to be back, rather than to be stuck in the house, cleaning out old, useless boxes. He took a bite of his sushi. It tasted good. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he missed the loudness of the lunch room. He missed hearing others eating around him and the music that blasted through the speakers. Eventually he saw Arthur and flagged him down. He wasn't with Francis though. Kiku wasn't sure if he should think this was odd or not.

Arthur came over and sat down next to him. "Hello, glad to see you're back."

Kiku smiled a little. "Yes, it's nice to see you too."

Arthur opened his lunch bag. He had burned sandwiches, just like the first day of school.

"Sorry about the way I left your house over your suspension. Francis, can really be an idiot."

"No, it's okay. Relationships can be complicated."

Arthur huffed and bit into one of his sandwiches. He made a face as it crunched under his teeth. "Yes, yes they can. I know that for sure."

Kiku chuckled a bit. "I heard from Francis that you two are a little rocky."

Arthur nodded. "We're weird. It's not like it used to be. I want to go back to that."

"From the sound of it, so does he."

Arthur shook his head. "I don't know if we ever can." He chugged his water and took another bite.

Francis came up to the table just as Kiku was about to say something back to Arthur. Francis sat across from them. That was unusual considering Francis usually sat very close to Arthur.

"Hello Kiku. How has your day been since this morning?"

Kiku shrugged. "Alright, I had a fight with Alfred but I guess that was expected."

"A fight with Alfred?" Francis looked taken aback. "What happened?" He looked over at Arthur's food and sneered at it. It looked as if he might make one of his usual snide comments, but he didn't.

"What about a fight with Alfred?" Gilbert jogged over and sat down very close to Francis. He curled his lip at Arthur's lunch.

Arthur looked at Francis. "What aren't you and your friend going to say anything about my lunch?"

Elizabeta was close behind Gilbert. "A fight with Alfred? That can't be good."

Francis said and tightened his lip."No, I won't say anything."

Gilbert laughed. "kesese, you mean that its burned to a crisp?"

Francis help his shoulder. "No, Gilbert. We shouldn't do such a thing."

Arthur pounded his fist on the table. "Come on, now! I know you want to!"

Francis opened his mouth, but Feliciano came over and sat next to Arthur. "Did I hear something about a fight with Alfred?"

"Yes!" Elizabeta nodded at him.

"A fight? With Alfred? I thought it might come at least later in the week…." Ludwig came over and sat down by Feliciano.

"I don't understand why things changed!" Arthur shouted, trying to bring the conversation back to himself.

"Shut up! I want to listen to Kiku's story." Francis snapped at him.

Just like that all eyes were on Kiku. "M-My _story?_" Kiku blinked and swallowed hard. "I don't know if I'd call a _fight _a story."

"Well, just tell us what happened. We want to help you, Kiku." Feliciano smiled at him.

In that moment, Kiku felt like he was really surrounded by people who loved him. He knew that they earnestly wanted to help him, which was more than he ever had in Japan. He smiled, a true smile for the first time since they visited his house. "Okay, I think I can trust you guys."

Kiku told them what happened. He decided not to leave out any detail except for when he talked about Alfred's dad hitting him. It seemed wrong of them to know such a gruesome detail. They all listened to him intently. They nodded and frowned when they should have and when Kiku was finished they were oddly silent.

Gilbert spoke first. "What a dick."

"Ve~ why is Alfred smoking? Didn't you used to do that Luddy?"

"_Ja_…I still do sometimes."

"Hey! _Mein kleiner Bruder_! Why are you still smoking?"

Elizabeta hit Gilbert. "That's not what this is about."

"It's bad for his health!"

Ludwig frowned. "I don't do it _that _often! Besides, I'm fit."

Gilbert folded his arms. "I don't like it."

"It sounds like Alfred has it bad." Ludwig tightened his lip.

"Ve~ yeah it does…"

"I wish we could do something to help." Arthur suddenly jumped in.

Francis continued Arthur's thought. "Yes, it seems like he still likes you, Kiku."

"Still likes me? You guys know what happened in the lunch room! That doesn't seem much like _like _to me."

Elizabeta shook her head. "No, it sounds like he was repeating someone else's words."

"Are you not telling us something, Kiku?" Ludwig leaned in so he could see Kiku more.

Kiku panicked for a moment, then lied. "No, I've told you everything I know."

"Well, whoever put the ideas in his head obviously has a big influence on him." Elizabeta said as she put her arm around Gilbert.

"_Oui_. He can't decide if he should listen to them or be with you."

"That can't be right." Kiku shook his head. "It's crazy. I mean, that sort of thing only happens on tv."

"No, it can happen. Where do you think the tele writers get the ideas?" Arthur pushed his sandwiches away and looked at Kiku.

"From experience, of course~!" Francis smiled as he finished Arthur's thought again.

"Huh..." Kiku had never considered that before. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right!" Both Francis and Arthur said that the same time. They then gave each other a glare.

"Well, what can we do about it?" Gilbert asked.

"Ve~ maybe if you kiss him, he'll know that he really wants to be with you!" Feliciano chimed in.

"Kiss him? But he doesn't want me anywhere near him." Kiku looked down at his food. How was he supposed to kiss Alfred if he wasn't going to go near him? If Alfred didn't want him around?

"Kesesese I got this one!" Gilbert leaned forward. "The school play, of course, dummy!"

"The…school play?" Kiku looked up again as things began to click in his mind.

"Ve~ yeah! I forgot about that! You'll just have to give him the kiss of a lifetime!"

"That's not a bad idea…" Ludwig mused.

"Are you kidding, it's perfect!" Francis clapped his hands together and looked very gleeful.

"It's so romantic!"

"If he does it right, it's romantic." Arthur pointed out.

"What if I do it wrong?" Kiku panicked. "I'm not very good at kissing!"

"What do you mean you're not good?" Elizabeta leaned forward as Ludwig had done earlier.

"I don't kiss people that often!" Kiku said and blushed a deep shade of red.

"Well, who does?" Ludwig frowned.

Arthur scoffed and motioned to Francis. "This git over here kisses practically anything that moves!"

Francis looked offended. "That's not true!"

Arthur smirked. "I saw you kissing a mop once!"

Francis blushed slightly. Kiku didn't think he'd ever seen Francis blush before. "That was just a very odd looking woman!"

"My ass it was!" Arthur shot back.

"This conversation is over!" Francis frowned and the both of them stopped.

Gilbert put an arm around Francis. "Hey how about you, Antonio, and I all give the boy a lesson in kissing?" He smirked.

Francis brightened. "Hey, yeah! That's a great idea! The three of us are unstoppable!"

Elizabeta groaned. "Oh no, please don't bring Antonio into this…"

Kiku was confused. "Who's Antonio?"

Arthur looked at Kiku. "You know your teacher Mr. Fernández Carriedo?" Kiku nodded. "That's Antonio."

Feliciano bounced in his seat. "Yay! That means Lovi might come too~!"

"Oh boy…" Ludwig pinched his nose. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"Oh come on, Luddy, it's to help out a friend!" Feliciano leaned on him.

"Fine, fine…I can't believe I'm getting so involved."

"So it's settled, then?" Francis asked.

"I think so…" Elizabeta looked at the lot of them.

Everyone turned to look at Kiku. Kiku blushed heavily, he felt pressured. "I mean…I guess if you really want to."

"Yes!" Gilbert punched his hand into the air. "This is gonna be awesome!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, sorry another late update. I promise it should be the last weekend I am in Canada. Well I'm back now and here is that chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it and I hope it didn't get put up too late! How are you all? I hope good, March is a tough month! I'm painting my nails like space this week and I also changed my whole internet to German! I just felt like sharing... anyway have a good week and I will see you next Sunday ~<strong>

**M.O. **


	10. Chapter 10 A Light In The Darkness

Chapter 10. A Light in the Darkness

Kiku waited impatiently by his window. He tapped his fingers on the sill and peeked behind the curtain. It was the day before the show. Opening night was going to be on Saturday. Normally, he might have walked home from school with his friends, but they all wanted to get into a group and figure out the plan before coming over. Plus, they still had to convince Lovino to come along, apparently. Kiku had told his parents on Thursday that he had a bunch of friends coming over. They were so excited that he had friends that they promised to get out of his hair. They said that they would go out for dinner and a movie, which they did do, after leaving a plate of cookies on the table for Kiku and his friends. Kiku checked his watch, it was 5:30. He wasn't sure how much time it was going to take for them to teach him how to kiss, but he figured it might take a while. The show was early tomorrow, and he wanted to get in bed by 10.

He checked behind the curtain again. There were some figures coming from the distance. He couldn't mistake the group of them. They were all on top of each other, shouting and laughing. You could hear them from a distance. Kiku covered his face with his hands. What an embarrassing group of friends. Lovino was trailing the group with arms folded. He was pouting obviously. Feliciano kept trailing back to talk to him, but he always yelled at him. Kiku was becoming nervous. His friends were getting closer and he didn't know what would happen when they arrived.

Kiku took a few deep breaths, and before he knew it there was a knock at his door. And then another. And then another. Three people were knocking on his door madly. He jumped up and opened it. Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert fell into the house. Kiku had to jump out of the way. Arthur was covering his mouth from embarrassment. Elizabeta began to pull Gilbert up and Lovino just yelled at Antonio.

"Get up you Bastardo! What do you think you're doing falling into someone's house! You always do this to me, you always embarrass me!"

Antonio got up and brushed himself off. "It happens, Lovi, don't worry about it."

Kiku took a deep breath. Before anyone could speak again he raised his voice. "Hello, welcome! I have cookies!"

Feliciano jumped up. "Ve~? Cookies? I want some!" He ran inside and found the plate within the minute. He bounced in, holding the cookies, already eating one.

Gilbert went over to Feliciano and took one too. "Kesese I didn't know we'd be getting cookies! This is going to be more fun than I thought."

Antonio came up to Kiku. "Hey Kiku, I haven't seen you since class!" He laughed.

Kiku swallowed hard. "N-No sir, I guess not."

Antonio blinked at him. "Say, there's no need to call me "sir" here! I'm your friend! Besides, how old do you think I am anyway?"

Kiku shrugged. He didn't want to say it out loud.

Antonio smirked. "Well then, I'm only twenty-three."

Kiku blinked. "But you're a teacher! Don't you have to go to school for that? Isn't it longer than regular college?"

Antonio leaned against the wall. "Well, am I a good teacher?" Kiku nodded. "Then I guess you know why I get to teach early."

"So it's only a five year difference?" Kiku blinked. He couldn't believe it was only five years, four for Lovino.

"Yep! Five years." Antonio grinned.

"Say, Kiku…" Francis came up and slung an arm around Kiku's shoulders. "I'd like to get started."

"S-Started?" Kiku turned to face him and was startled by how close Francis was to his face.

"_Oui_, have you got a room we can go into?"

"A room? L-Like my bedroom?"

"Yes!" Francis jumped up and clapped his hands. "Your bedroom! That's perfect!"

"Kiku, are you sure you want to do this?" Elizabeta came up to him and looked him in the eye.

Kiku hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

She smiled down to him. He smiled back up at her. "Okay, let's do this then."

All of them went upstairs to Kiku's room. Lovino and Feliciano trailed behind. Lovino was still pouting and Feliciano still had the plate of cookies. They barely fit into Kiku's room. It was a funny sight, almost. Francis and Arthur sat on the bed, Feliciano laid on the floor, and Ludwig sat crisscross on the floor next to him. Antonio sat down on the chair by Kiku's computer and pulled Lovino, who wouldn't stop squirming, down onto his lap. Gilbert didn't know where to go, so he sat down on the edge of the bed with Elizabeta in his lap. Kiku didn't have a big bed like Alfred; it was just a twin-size. He stood there awkwardly in the midst of his friends, who were oddly silent.

"So um, how do we start?" Kiku said as he looked around the bunch of them. Though he decided not to look at Lovino and Antonio because honestly, the thought of the two of them together weirded him out.

Francis smirked and twirled his hair. "Do you have a broom?"

"And a pillow?" Antonio added.

"A broom and a pillow?" Kiku put his finger to his lip. He was lost as to where this might go. "Yes, I've got them."

"Well go get them!" Gilbert said as he made a shooing motion with his hand.

Kiku nodded and abruptly went to go get them. He went downstairs and into the kitchen for the broom, it was behind the refrigerator as it usually is. He then grabbed one of the pillows from the couch in the living room and went to meet everyone in his bedroom again.

"Okay. I got the stuff." He said as he dropped it on the ground. "Now what?"

Francis smiled. "Great! Now you sit down."

"Sit down?" Kiku asked as he slowly got on the ground, it was the only available spot left in the room. "How is sitting going to help me out?"

"Ve~ you'll see!" Feliciano said as he ate another cookie.

Ludwig grunted. "I can't believe we're actually going through with this."

Elizabeta chuckled. "I think it'll be a good learning experience."

"Ve~ you just want to see us boys kissing, Elizabeta!" Feliciano giggled and pecked Ludwig on the cheek.

"Feliciano, what the fuck are you doing?!" Lovino screeched.

"Ve~ I-I'm kissing Ludwig." Feliciano started to cry.

Lovino, starting to see his brother cry in front of so many people, started to pull back a bit. "F-Fine! Just don't kiss the kraut in front of me!"

"And don't talk that way about my girlfriend!" Gilbert grunted.

"Aw, Gil it's okay." Elizabeta smiled and petted his hair.

"Excuse me, but my question?" Kiku brought the conversation back to the question he had just asked about being on the floor.

"Oh, yes! Your question!" Francis smiled and leaned back on his hands.

"We're going to demonstrate first." Antonio said, and moved his hand around Lovino's waist.

"Get your hand off of me!" Lovino screeched and wiggled his way out of Antonio's grasp.

"Demonstrate?" Kiku asked.

"Yes! We're going to kiss our dates and you're going to watch." Francis said as he slung an arm around Arthur.

"Watch and _learn_" Gilbert added.

"Um okay…" Kiku said as he leaned back on his hands.

"Us too, Luddy?" Feliciano asked, as he crawled over closer to Ludwig.

"No, Feli. We're just here to make sure things don't get out of hand." Ludwig said as he patted the top of Feliciano's head.

"Daww, I thought it sounded like fun." Feliciano pouted and dropped himself in Ludwig's lap. Lovino made a loud huffing noise when Feliciano did so and Antonio had to calm him down before he burst into another screaming fit.

"Maybe another time." Ludwig grunted.

"Okay, ready?" Francis asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Kiku said, and sighed heavily.

"First Arthur and I will go, then Antonio and Lovino, and then Elizabeta and Gilbert."

Francis pointed to everyone as he spoke.

"That sounds fine." Kiku said as he nodded along.

"Okay then! Let the kissing lessons begin! Now, all of us kiss differently so watch closely for the different styles!" Francis announced before leaning in to kiss Arthur. It was like watching a Disney kiss, in the beginning. Slowly they leaned into each other and closed their eyes. They came together and met very romantically. Kiku felt like flowers might come down and start raining in his room. Though the moment was ruined fast when they started to become more aggressive with one another. Gilbert and Antonio started cheering them on and Ludwig had to break them up after a few minutes.

Both of them wiped spit off of their mouths. "I think that was demonstration enough." Francis said as he patted Arthur's back. "You didn't do too badly yourself."

Arthur laughed. "I did better than you! Imagine the two of them kissing like that on stage."

"I think it's going to have to be a combination of the three styles in order for it to work perfectly." Antonio said.

"Yes, I agree." Gilbert bounced up and down. "He's going to have to watch all of us."

"Boy they really went at it though, didn't they?" Elizabeta said as she clapped her hands lightly.

Gilbert glared at her a bit. "Hey, don't get too carried away."

Elizabeta waved him off. "Don't worry about it Gil."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pulled her closer. "I hope that I don't need to worry about it."

"W-Who was next again?" Kiku interrupted, wanting to move on with the process.

"It was us!" Antonio ginned and waved his hand.

"Don't look so fucking excited!" Lovi screeched and pulled his hand down.

"But Lovino, I am excited!" Antonio laughed.

"Let's just get this over with! I don't want to be here much longer and I don't want to look at anyone faces any longer! Especially potato bastard's!"

Ludwig grunted. "_Danke_."

Gilbert looked angry. "Hey! Don't talk about my brother like that!"

"You think I give a fuck?" Lovino gave Gilbert the finger. "You're just kraut number two!"

"That's it!" Gilbert said and began to stand up. Ludwig took Feliciano's head out of his lap and came over to Gilbert.

"Calm down, he's always like this."

"I know and it's really starting to get on my nerves!" Gilbert roared. Lovino was now terrified and gripped onto Antonio for his life.

"Gilbert! Now is not the time! Now sit back down!" Ludwig shouted. "We can discuss your problems with certain parties later!"

"But Lud!"

"No buts! Sit down. This time, right now, is about Kiku, not you and your silly shenanigans!"

"Geez, fine!" Gilbert relaxed and pulled Elizabeta back on to his lap.

"Good." Ludwig sat back down on the floor and Feliciano resumed his position in Ludwig's lap.

"Can we kiss now?" Antonio asked as he pulled the ever squirming Lovino back onto his lap.

"Wait, before we get on with this crazy shit I need to know if any of you are going to report us!"

Antonio smiled. "They won't, they're my friends."

"I want to hear them say it you fucking bastardo!" Lovino screeched.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We won't tell." Gilbert said.

"Swear on my mother's grave." Arthur held his hand up in a swearing fashion.

"Ve~ you won't have to worry about Ludwig and I!" Feliciano chimed in.

"And...I won't say anything." Kiku said, even if he did think it was weird.

"Okay!" Antonio grinned and looked at Lovino. "Let's kiss then!"

"Yes, just get on with it," Arthur remarked as Francis played with his hair.

"Great!" Antonio grinned, and before Lovino could get out more than a loud screech, pulled him into a very quick kiss. Lovino looked angry at first, but eventually melted into the kiss. He even wrapped his arms around Antonio for a moment. Kiku also thought this type of kiss was really beautiful. Like he'd like to see it in slow motion. It was funny how easily Lovino seemed to soften in Antonio's arms. It was obvious to Kiku then that they really did like each other. It only lasted until Antonio's hands went too low, then Lovino flipped out.

He pulled away from the kiss at the speed of light. "What the _fuck _do you think you're doing?!"

Antonio looked dazed. "I-I um…I was kissing you, Lovi!"

Lovino thwapped him on the side of the head. "My ass you were! There are people here! How could you embarrass me like that?!" Lovino screeched and began to cry.

Antonio's expression looked like he'd been through this before with Lovino. "Lovi, how did I embarrass you? I didn't mean to."

"You did! You did mean to embarrass me!" Lovino hit Antonio on the chest a few times.

Antonio held his hands steady. "Lovi, what did I do to embarrass you?"

Lovino sobbed and smashed his face into Antonio's chest. "You tried to grab my butt!"

Antonio chuckled. "Lovino, I'm sorry. I just got carried away."

Lovino hit him again on the head but continued to sob into his chest. "Yes, yes you did Bastardo!"

"Well, I'm sorry." Antonio kissed the top of his head a few times. "I won't do it again in public."

"Good! You'd better not!" Lovino threw in one extra hit to the head, and Antonio restrained his wrists.

"I promise." Antonio let go of Lovino's hands and petted his back. He mouthed to the group.

"_This is normal"_

Everyone rolled their eyes, except Arthur, Francis and Feliciano. Arthur and Francis were necking again, and Feliciano had fallen asleep. Ludwig frowned at them. "How about we move on? We're running out of time." He looked at his watch. "We've been here longer than it has seemed."

Gilbert grinned. "Yes! Let's move on, it's Liz and I's turn right?"

"Well, you're the only ones left." Ludwig smirked at him.

Gilbert waved his hand at him. "Oh, I was just asking for effect."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Sure."

Elizabeta turned on Gilbert's lap so that she was straddling him. She patted his chest impetuously. "Come on Gil, don't bother yourself with petty arguments."

Gilbert turned to her and put his arms around her waist. He touched his nose to hers and grinned. "Aw Lizzy, you're just looking forward to kissing the awesome me~"

Elizabeta smirked and hit him on the back of the head. "Fat chance!"

Gilbert only chuckled. "I love you, Lizzy." He then leaned in and kissed her very passionately. This might be the type of kiss you would see at someone's wedding. It was innocent enough for the onlookers to see, but there was a fire behind it. Elizabeta ran her hands through Gilbert's hair and he pulled her closer. It seemed like something that they had been waiting to do for hundreds of years, but at the same time something they did every day. It was truly mystical in its own way. How could they convert so much energy into one kiss? When they pulled away, Kiku let out his breath. He had been holding it. It seemed like everyone in the room had been holding it. Even Francis and Arthur had stopped kissing just to see them. The only sound had been the soft breathing of the sleeping Feliciano.

"Now, that's how you do a kiss!" Elizabeta boasted and held a hand up for Gilbert to high five.

He hit her hand hard. "Oh yeah! The awesome me and my beautiful girlfriend have shown you all~! Kesesese!" He puffed up his chest and kissed up her arm.

Kiku drew his legs into his chest. "So, now what do I do?"

Francis smiled. "Now it's your turn."

"My turn? But how am I supposed to kiss someone when I don't have anyone here?" Kiku was truly confused.

"Well, you kiss the broom and the pillow of course!" Antonio grinned and motioned to the two objects.

"U-Um okay…?" Kiku picked them up. "But how shall I combine the three techniques?"

Gilbert beamed. "That's easy! You use the quickness of Antonio's technique, the tongue of Francis', and the passion of mine!"

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Kiku said as he stared at all of them. "How do I know if I'm even doing it right?"

"That's what we're here for! To make sure you get it perfect." Francis said as he lay down in Arthur's lap. "We're like trained professionals."

Gilbert chuckled. "Totally~"

"Oh….So what is each tool for, then?" Kiku held up the broom and pillow in a questioning manner.

"Well, the broom is so we can watch your tongue technique." Francis smiled. "That will mostly be me though."

"T-Tounge technique? Don't you think that's really…in my personal space?" Kiku said as he stared, bewildered at Francis.

"Do you want to get back together with Alfred?" Francis asked, eyebrows raised at him.

"Well yes, but-"

"No buts! Tongue technique or no Alfred!" Francis held a finger up. Everyone was staring at Kiku. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"I-I-" Kiku let his shoulders slump in defeat. He wanted Alfred back more than anything. Even if Alfred had been mean, he knew it was just his father's words. "Tongue technique it is, then."

Francis smiled. "Good boy."

"Though I don't understand how kissing a broom is going to help me with my tongue…"

"You kiss the handle of course, then I can watch your tongue." Francis grinned.

"That's...really creepy." Kiku cringed a bit at the thought.

"You already agreed to this!" Francis raised his eyebrows and looked at him pleadingly. Kiku was a bit frustrated but nodded his head in reluctant agreement.

"And what about the pillow?" Kiku held it up, afraid of what they might say.

"That is for passion." Antonio pointed out.

"Yes! Antonio and I will be monitoring that more than, Franny over there." Gilbert chuckled and put his hands behind his head.

"Hey!" Francis yelled and grabbed Kiku's pillow. He threw it at Gilbert, who was still on the edge of the bed. "Call me by my real name!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. _Francis_" He made a big show when he said Francis' name. Gesturing his hands and everything.

Francis scoffed. "Still better than Franny."

Before they could start fighting, Ludwig spoke. "How about we get this moving? Remember what I said about time?"

"Yeah, yeah." Gilbert waved Ludwig off. "Let's get this show on the road."

So the lessons commenced. Over and over again Kiku kissed the broom and the pillow. He received criticism from everyone. Feliciano eventually woke up and started helping. Lovino even jumped in sometimes. It seemed like he really wanted to care in his own way. Kiku's mouth got sore after a while and they all took a snack break. Though Kiku mostly drank water. Before his jaw had fully recovered they got him back to work, kissing the broom and the pillow though. Kiku had no idea how much time was passing. Minutes? Hours? All he knew was that his tongue was sore and his jaw hurt. They kept telling him things like, "No! Curl your tongue!" Or, "Press the pillow into your face more!" Sometimes one of them would come up and re adjust his position, or hold his shoulders. Kiku's neck was even getting a little sore. He kept hitting his tongue against the stick of the broom and Francis kept shouting at him for that. Kiku had to go "around the stick in a romantic manner…" according to Francis. It was aggravating, but definitely a learning experience for Kiku.

It was late when everyone left. Very late. Kiku was tired, and the other eight looked tired too. Yet they claimed before they left that Kiku had the technique down to a tee. That he couldn't mess it up if he tried. They made him rehearse it enough times. Francis had even asked if Kiku wanted to try it on him, but Arthur hit him, and Kiku refused anyway. Feliciano took the rest of the cookies home and Kiku cleaned up his bedroom. His parents came home about an hour later and asked him how his visit with friends had been. Kiku told them it had been fun, though he had mixed feeling about that. Usually a visit from his friends _was _fun, so he didn't worry about the white lie. Kiku went to bed looking forward to capturing Alfred's heart tomorrow. Before he fell asleep, he found under the covers a video tape that Elizabeta had left for him. What a sly dog. He would have to repay her. Perhaps he could watch it this weekend.

Kiku fell asleep dreaming of knights that looked like Alfred, on tall white horses. They had flowers around them and the sun was always setting. It was all very romantic.

It was now the day of the play and Kiku waited nervously backstage, he shifted uncomfortably in his dress. It was almost time for his scene. He looked down at his costume. He would rather have worn the gift Alfred gave him. It had been too sad to touch though after their fight. Kiku's costume was a long, pink, princess dress. He was so short they had to get him one for younger kids, so it was really done up. There were sparkles on the skirt of the dress, as well as many, many layers. They even made him wear a petticoat. It puffed out too. The top of the dress wasn't sparkly, and the waistline was tied together with a really big bow. It was meant to look like it was strapless, but there were tiny, light pink straps holding it up. It fanned out above the bow, and the fabric was decorated with flowers. It was itchy.

Kiku could see where he was supposed to enter on stage. Up the steps of the "castle" and into the "tower." He patted the bottom part of the dress and sparkles rained down. His shoes were also pink. They were sparkling, pink, high heels. He couldn't stand very well in them, as he was used to wearing sneakers. Since his hair was short, they put a long black wig on him. It was curly around the bottom. That was also itchy.

Finally, the scene between the two leads ended and everything went dark. Kiku climbed the stairs into the tower very unsteadily. He needed the help of two techs (people who worked backstage). It was cold way up high on stage. The top of the tower wasn't really inside. It was just a piece of wood for the audience and then an empty space for Kiku. This was much more enjoyable when Kiku had been wearing his sweatshirt and jeans. Now, cold air nipped up his skirt and legs, as well as around his arms. The lights flew on to begin the scene. That was a bit warmer.

Kiku looked out his window as he was directed to do and looked for Alfred, who would enter soon. In reality he could see the unhappy Alfred off stage. He looked handsome though, he was in a suit of armor. Or at least some chain mail and boots. He carried a helmet with him too. Kiku sighed. He wished that Alfred realized what he was doing. Alfred was a sweet kid. Kiku didn't think he'd hurt anyone intentionally, or without a strong influence. The scene began as Alfred stepped out on stage.

_"__And I," _Kiku started as he looked down on Alfred. _"One of the lovely maidens, looks out to find thee a fine knight at my tower. What be your purpose fine knight?" _

Alfred looked up at Kiku._"I find thee, fair maiden, to be the most beautiful in the land to mine eyes, and though I am no wealthy prince, I would like to declare my love for thee." _

"_Why, fair Knight, I wouldn't care whether you were a rich prince or a poor pauper, you are my fair Knight. I accept your declaration of love and return it with my own." _Kiku rested his face in his hands.

_"__Then, fair maiden, might I come up your tower to claim you?"_

"_Please do, good sir, please come and take me from this place."_

And with that, Alfred slowly came up the tower to get Kiku. He clomped his way up each step and picked Kiku up effortlessly. He then carefully walked back down the steps and they stood before the audience. Kiku's arms were wrapped around Alfred's neck. They looked at each other lovingly. Then Kiku spoke.

"_Oh brave knight, let me hear your name again so I may not forget it."_

_"__My name, fair maiden, be that of many days old. You may call me Joshua. And you, fine maiden? What might I call you, so that name may never leave my lips or my heart."_

_"__You may call me what you like, long as the name stays in your heart when you think of me. Call me by the flowers or the moon or what you think is beautiful, lest it not be another woman. And when you cannot think of something more beautiful than my name, than call me Josephine."_

_"__All well, then, Josephine. On this eve I pledge my love to a face as fine as yours. One so exotic and beautiful."_

_"__And I too pledge my love to you, Joshua, brave knight who came for me."_

Alfred set Kiku down on the stage. He was supposed to kiss Kiku, but Kiku had other plans. Before Alfred could act, Kiku used the technique. He held Alfred and pulled him into a kiss quickly, and surprisingly as Antonio had done to Lovino. Alfred tensed in surprise for a few seconds, as soon as he relaxed into the kiss he inserted Gilbert's passion which Alfred quickly succumbed to. Lastly, Kiku used Francis' tongue technique, which had been practiced for so many hours last night that Kiku's tongue was still sore. He didn't care, though. Alfred was melting in his hands. The audience cheered, the curtain closed, and they continued to kiss. A few techs had to pull them apart.

They stood on stage staring at each other. Alfred looked like he had stars in his eyes. "Kiku…I-wow…"

Kiku held Alfred's hands tightly. "Alfred…"

"I want you back." Alfred said suddenly. "No, wait I mean…I- Can we actually sit down somewhere?"

Kiku nodded and walked with Alfred backstage. No one paid attention to them like Kiku thought they might. Instead, there had been another lemonade incident and that was the focus of attention. Kiku brought Alfred outside and they sat on the stone blocks that sat by the trees near the parking lot.

"So…" Kiku said. "What do you want to talk about?"

Alfred shuffled his feet for a moment. It took him a bit, but he did finally look up at Kiku. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for being a dick, after you tried to help me, no less. I'm sorry I called you names and punched you. I'm sorry I fought with you and acted like a total ass. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings…!" Alfred sniffled and tears started to fall from his eyes. "I'm sorry I was so mean, Kiku! It's not like me to be like that. It's just…after you left. My mom came in and then my parents started fighting. When they calmed down they made me sit down and my dad…he told me horrible things about being gay and what it might do to me."

Kiku rubbed Alfred's back and held him close. "You don't have to talk about it, Alfred."

"But how will you know I really mean it when I say I'm sorry?" Alfred sniffled and looked at Kiku in the eye.

"Because, look at you Alfred. You're sniveling and crying and you're worrying about whether I'll forgive you or not."

Alfred chuckled a bit, but it was half-hearted. "I guess so." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I just...I felt so bad after you left. Terrible, my dad had pushed you around and then you had to run. Then he gave me that talk which made me completely paranoid. I thought he would...disown me if I kept acting the way I was. I had to change, I _had _to. It was going to be too hard for me to stay your friend because...I still liked you, _loved _you. I couldn't make those feelings go away. You kept coming up, again and again….I thought, maybe if I hurt you then you would leave. You still came back though." Alfred rubbed his temples. "I was so _stupid!_" He wiped new tears away from his eyes. "I just...couldn't shake you, I couldn't shake my feelings."

"Okay, I forgive you, Alfred." Kiku smiled and pecked him on the cheek.

"I-I'll stop smoking too. I don't even like it. M-My dad just told me it was the manly thing to do."

Kiku's lip tightened. "I think it's smart for you to quit."

"My dad's a dick."

"Yeah, he is." Kiku said and he hugged Alfred. "I'm sorry he influenced you like this."

"Me too. I acted…inexcusably." Alfred hugged him back, tightly. "I can't believe you forgave me though. I don't know if I could be that big."

"Well…" Kiku pulled away from the hug. "I just fell in love I guess."

"I'm lucky to have you, Kiku, I really am. I don't think anyone would give me another chance like this." Alfred sniffled.

"Thank you, Alfred." Kiku grinned. "That makes me more than happy, it makes me...ecstatic!"

"Really?" Alfred asked as he rubbed his hand under his nose.

"Really." Kiku grinned and kissed him, _really_ kissed him again.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, so the story is wrapping up now. One more chapter after this and it'll be finished! I'm preparing a surprise for you all at the end of the story. I doubt it's what you think so don't get your hopes up or anything. <strong>

**I hope you like the chapter, feel free to comment I love to hear your feedback. **

**have a good week**

**M.O**


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